Promise of a Lifetime
by Haru Matsumura
Summary: Naruto made a promise of a lifetime to Sakura... and he's always honored it... so she decided to make a promise of her own to repay him, but will the promise she makes be too much for her to keep? NaruSaku. R&R!
1. Sakura's Tears

A/N: Hey there everyone! I'm finally back and decided to start a new fic... don't worry, I'll finish HackCYCLE too... I'm sorry it's taking so long... but I really wanted to do a Naruto fic too!

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**Promise of A Lifetime**

**Chapter 1: Sakura's Tears**

She didn't get it, she didn't understand the blonde shinobi one bit. He had protected her so valiantly, stood up for her, saved her more times than she could count. He put his life on the line for her constantly and never once regretted doing so. Why? Why did he continue to do such things for her? Sakura turned to look at the ninja in question, who had let out a grateful sigh as the Hidden Village of Konoha finally came into view.

"I'm going to go and have a huge bowl of ramen as soon as we get back!" he said enthusiastically, a large grin on his face. Naruto moved even faster, leaving Sakura and Jiraiya to catch up.

_"Why...?"_ she asked mentally, her eyes misting over slightly as the image of that same Naruto pushing her out of the way as spikes shot from the wall. She remembered the horror that shot through the core of her being as she looked at her teammate, supposedly run through... only to find that he had barely dodged.

"Oi! Naruto! Calm down! You may have tons of stamina but Sakura and I are exhausted." called out Jiraiya... which was only a half truth. The Legendary Sannin wasn't very tired at all... but Sakura really _was_ exhausted from this endeavor... and it showed. She wouldn't be able to keep up. Naruto nodded and slowed down a bit, letting them catch up.

_"Why?"_ she repeated inside of her mind with a little more passion, a deep pang of guilt shooting through her heart as she remembered Naruto saving her from a pit trap, only to slip and fall in himself. The terror of losing Naruto shot through the core of her being even harder that time.

Naruto grinned at Jiraiya, "Heh, you're getting too old, aren't you Ero-sennin?" he prodded.

"Didn't I tell you not to call me that!" Shot back Jiraiya. It wasn't long before the heated argument started.

Tears threatened to spill as Sakura continued to look at the happy boy in front of her. She could still see the rip in that back of his jacket. Naruto had taken that blow for her... he had jumped in the way and got a giant blade in the back because of it.

_"WHY?"_ She mentally screamed... as if she could get an answer simply by increasing the fierocity of her thoughts. She remembered, in great detail, even as his heart was being crushed... all he could think about was keeping his promise to her. Again she felt that fear... that horrible fear that she had lost Naruto.

"Sakura-chan?" came Naruto's voice, breaking her out of her thoughts. She hadn't even noticed that they had stopped, or that Naruto was in front of her, his eyes showing a deep concern.

"Sakura-chan what's wrong...?" He asked, sure that he had a hold on her attention now.

Sakura studied the boy in front of her. He had that same look in his eyes. That odd look that he always got when he was ready to throw himself in front of her to protect her. She could feel even more pain and regret welling up inside of her as she looked at the ninja.

The orange-clad ninja looked away... down to the ground, "Sakura-chan... don't worry..." he said softly, "we'll find him and bring him back... I'm sure of it..."

Sakura couldn't take it anymore. Tears rolled down her cheeks as she looked at Naruto. There was a bittersweet smile on his lips... it seemed so familiar to her, but she couldn't quite place where she had seen it before.

"I told you... even if it takes me the rest of my life..." he closed his eyes for a moment, before grinning, "I'll bring him back to you..."

_"Even now... he's only thinking of me..."_ she mused internally, _"Why, Naruto... do you go so far for me...?"_

"So you really shouldn't be crying!" he continued, seeing that she had not stopped crying... in fact she seemed to be crying harder. This only served to confuse Naruto and drive him back into his concerned-looking state.

Guilt washed over her as she realized that he had forced a grin to try and cheer her up... when had she ever done something nice for Naruto? When had she ever just stopped and talked to him for no reason? They had known each other since the academy... and she didn't know much more about Naruto than his name. She had no idea when his birthday was, no idea where he lived, and not even the slightest clue of what his life was like. She remembered once saying that Naruto knew nothing of her... but now she understood that it was the other way around. _She_ didn't know anything about _him_.

"Please stop crying, Sakura-chan..." pleaded Naruto finally, seeing that nothing he had said had an effect at all.

It looked like there was nothing the blonde shinobi could actually do to halt the flow of Sakura's tears, so Naruto was extremely suprised when the pink-haired ninja slowly, intentionally wrapped her arms around him and held him tightly to her, burying her head into his chest. Naruto didn't know how to react to this. He could count on one hand the number of times he'd been hugged, much less by a girl. However he remembered what he had done on that day he promised to bring Sasuke back... and he would abide by it... even if it meant passing up an opportunity so perfect to hug the girl he had chased after for most of his life.

"Naruto..." she choked through the tears, "BAKA!" She shouted fiercly as a fresh wave of sobs spilled form the pink-haired girl. She clutched at Naruto desperately, like he would fade away if she didn't hold onto him tight enough.

"I wasn't worried about Sasuke-kun this time!" She cried, "I was worried about you!"

"Me?" He asked, obviously confused... since when did Sakura ever worry about him over Sasuke? It was unnatural... just how shaken was she from their journey to find the Uchiha boy.

"You... kept throwing yourself in front of danger meant for me!" the pink haired girl continued, "And every time you did, I thought you were dead! I can't lose you like I lost Sasuke-kun! I can't bring Sasuke-kun back alone!"

That same sad smile crossed Naruto's features once more.

_"So that's it..."_ Naruto thought, looking at the girl, _"I'm the only one she knows that can stop Sasuke... I'm the only connection she has left to him..."_ He gave an inward sigh.

_"Why does that smile seem so damned familiar!" _thought the girl, the combination of Naruto's strange activity lately... her recent fear of losing him... and the extremely odd way he was acting now... it was all really starting to irritate her. She delved deep into her mind, trying to find where she had seen him smile like that before.

"Sakura-chan," he said, looking right down into her distraught green eyes, "I won't die until we've gotten Sasuke back!" he said, the sad smile disappearing and suddenly being replaced with a huge grin, "I will bring Sasuke back for sure! It's a promise of a lifetime!"

It hit her like a brick. That's where she had seen his sad smile before. It was on that day...

_Flashback_

"You... really love him, huh?" he had asked, a very deflated and defeated smile... "I can understand very well... the pain that you're going through right now..."

"I will bring Sasuke back for sure! It's a promise of a lifetime!" He had said, giving her a huge Naruto-style grin and a thumbs up... he was trembling, though... and his grin seemed practiced and fake...

_End Flashback_

How come she hadn't noticed until now? Yet another pang of guilt went through her... what happened to him that day? She was seeing that sad smile more and more these days. Had she stirred a long-dead memory so violently? Or was it really that recent? Was it pity in his eyes when he gave her that?

_"I can understand very well.. the pain that you're going through right now..." _it echoed in her mind over and over. When had he felt such pain...? His words were genuine, he definitely wasn't lying... so when had that pain gone through him? Who had made him go through it?

"Naruto..." she said in a much calmer tone, much to the boy's delight, "remember... back when you made that promise...? You said... that you understand the pain that I was going through... and you said it like you had gone through the same thing before..."

She paused. Naruto nodded, a sudden dread washing over him as he already knew what she was going to ask.

"When did it happen...? Who did it to you...?" she had asked, promising inside of her mind that she would heal Naruto's pain... by reuniting him with the one he had lost.

"I... don't want tell you who..." Naruto said, not wanting to lie to Sakura-chan by saying that he couldn't tell her or that it was somebody else, "but... I went through it that very day..." he said, figuring that it would be safe to allow her that much.

_"That day...?"_ thought Sakura, _"It happened on that same day...?"_

Naruto pulled Sakura off of him, his hands resting on her shoulders as her tears finally came to a stop. Whether she was feeling a little better or she had just ran out of tears to cry, he didn't know, but she had stopped crying... and that was a start. He took the time to give a quick glance around. Jiraiya was already gone, probably having the heart to leave them be this one time.

"Come on Sakura-chan... we should get going before Ero-sennin get's worried about us." He suggested.

The truth was that he needed to distract her for the moment. The sad look of determination on her eyes told him that she would pry the information from him if he decided to stay here, and there was no way he could resist Sakura-chan if she was determined to get something out of him.

"Yeah..." she said, raising her wrist to her face to dry her now puffy cheeks, "Let's go."

_"He doesn't want to tell me... so I won't get it out of him... but he was in a hurry that morning." _she thought as she moved along with the orange-clad Gennin, _"I'm sure I could find out about all the girls he saw that day... and when I find her..."_

Her eyes drifted to Naruto once more, her eyes inevitably falling to the deep scar in his back. It was almost healed now... wait, when did that happen? She could have sworn that the gash was deeper than that a few minutes ago. She chalked it off to her being upset immediately, she must have made the slice deeper than it seemed in her mind because of the guilt she had been feeling.

_"I'll make that up to you Naruto... I'll bring you together with the one who hurt you, just like you're doing for me, for sure..." _the pink-haired shinobi let a small smile play across her lips, _"It's a promise of a lifetime..."_

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A/N: Sorry the first chapter is kind of lame. I really wanted for it to be better but I just couldn't find the motivation to make it any better than this. I'll try to make up for it in the next chapter though! Please review if you liked the story, it'll help me keep motivated to finally finish my stories!


	2. The One Who Dumped Naruto

A/N: Wow, I didn't expect so many reviews so soon! 10 reviews on the first day! That's more than I've gotten for any other story, period! Well I guess I'll continue writing, thanks for the support. Just a few little things...

Hitokiri Jotham - Just an appreciative shoutout to the very first reviewer. Sometime when I've got time for anything more than writing I'll repay the favor .

Madnarutofan - Yes, if you watch carefully throughout the Naruto series, she never once notices, too obsessed with Sasuke to even see him in a proper light. Anything she _does_ manage to see always seems to be mistaken for something else. There's a pretty good example in this fic.

Everyone else - Thank you so much for reviewing! I'll keep pumping out chapters as fast as I can, thanks for believing in me too, not ONE person agreed that the first chapter was lame... maybe the mistakes were difficult to catch? Either way, I still appreciate that.

Now then, with the introductory chapter gone and being thoroughly inspired to actually go through with the next chapter... oh! I almost forgot... though this chapter may not suggest it, don't fret! This _is_ a NaruSaku fic! Just be a little patient!

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**Promise of a Lifetime**

**Chapter 2: The One Who Dumped Naruto**

Haruno Sakura walked down the streets of Konoha, looking exasperated and above all, exhuasted. The pink-haired girl closed her eyes and let out a tired sigh, she had been all over town, asking if Naruto had met any girls that morning and, in fact, every morning for the past two weeks. People were starting to wonder if Sakura had changed her mind about Sasuke and was instead trying to nab Naruto. She was getting severely annoyed, not only were people snickering at her and making cracks about how she was 'scoping the competition,' but she hadn't found one clue that Naruto had been close to _any_ girl in the Hidden Village on the day he went to hunt after Sasuke.

_"It... couldn't be me could it?"_ she asked herself mentally, stopping for a moment as she considered this. Was she actually the root of his pain?

From what she had heard from pretty much everyone in the village, Naruto had only met with Shikamaru, Chouji, Kiba, Neji, Lee, and her that day. Out of that group, she was the only girl. Unless... Naruto was...

Sakura shook her head violently, _"There's no way that he's gay! We're talking about the guy who created the Sexy no Jutsu here!" _she screamed mentally.

For once she had actually chosen the exact words that her inner self would have used.

_"No... he's not gay and it couldn't have been me..."_ she thought as she walked on, _"We're not together, he would have no reason to be sad about losing me because he never had me in the first place."_

Somehow this mental statement caused a tiny pang of guilt, followed by an odd sort of feeling she had felt only once before. She remembered it clearly, the day that Naruto grew from a mere 'bibiri-kun' to an actual ninja.

_Flashback_

He was thrown away effortlessly, skidding to the feet of Tazuna, Sakura, and Sasuke, one arm buried under him. A jolt of fear ran through the very core of Sakura's being... he was... ready to throw his life away for the promise he had made to himself... that he would no longer be a burden... and would no longer run away. She began to tremble, staring at him, wide-eyed.

"What are you thinking, charging in like that on your own!" She yelled, not able to hide her concern for him... he may have been annoying, but still... she didn't want him to... die.

"Even Sasuke-kun isn't a match for him! Genins like ourselves have no way of defeating him no matter what we try!" She yelled, trying to talk some sense into the blonde, and she let out a small gasp as Naruto began to push himself to his feet... the Konoha headband that had been under the Jounin's foot now gripped tightly in his hand.

_"He went for the forehead protector...?"_ she thought, amazed.

Shock was apparent in everyone on the scene. Suddenly the Jounin didn't seem so invincible. Naruto had attacked him and, in the end, got what he was after... the fact that he had tried something against the Jounin... and that it had worked... sent renewed hope through all of them. No longer was Zabuza an impregnable fortress of ninja strength... he could be fought just like any other ninja.

"Hey... the no brow there..." said Naruto, referring to the Jounin he had just bested, "Put this in your bingo book... the man who will become Hokage of the Hidden Village of Konoha one day..."

He stood up straight, tall and proud, taking in a deep breath as he lifted his precious headband to his forehead.

"The Konoha style ninja..." he began, tightening the forehead protector, "Uzumaki Naruto!"

The way he said it... the way he showed absolutely no fear was... inspiring. Zabuza glared at the boy, shaking with anger.

"Sasuke! Lend me your ear for a second" he said, for once actually looking and sounding like a strong, effective leader.

"What do you want?" Came the mildly irritated reply from the Uchiha shinobi.

"I have a plan." Naruto said shortly.

"I can't believe you want to work as a team." remarked Sasuke, a bemused look crossing his features. Naruto smirked, Sasuke would cooperate with him for the time being.

_"What... what is this feeling...?" _thought Sakura, her eyes wide and her cheeks flushed, _"Was Naruto this..."_

"Well then..." Naruto said, wiping the blood from his chin, "Let's go wild now!"

_End Flashback_

Back then... she had felt this same feeling. At first she had thought it was respect and awe... she thought it was just inspiration. What was there to be inspired about now, though? No... it wasn't just a feeling of inspiration from the boy's demonstration of leadership. It was something else... what was it? It was something that she had only ever felt twice in her life. Sakura again shook her head violently.

"_I don't have time to think about this... I made a promise and I'm going to keep it!"_ the kunoichi told herself mentally.

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Naruto was worried. Sakura was taking this whole thing a little too far. He had learned from Shikamaru that Sakura was actively searching for girls that he had been with on that day, and it immediately clicked as to what she was doing. She was trying to find the person who had caused him pain. Why else would she have asked him about the girl who had hurt him two weeks ago? Of all the times he would have been proud and flattered that Sakura-chan would want to help him... this was the one time he was afraid of her trying to help him. He didn't want to put another burden onto Sakura's shoulders... she had enough to deal with with Sasuke disappearing.

_"Maybe I should just tell her..."_ he thought, _"If she keeps going like this she'll find out eventually... and the longer it takes, the more of a burden I'll be. She would say something like 'it was like that all this time...?' and break down into tears..."_

If there was any one thing that superceded everything to him... his dream of becoming Hokage... keeping his promises... and never going back on his word... Sakura's happiness that took the highest priority. He couldn't remember when exactly he decided to dedicate such a large portion of his life to her. Maybe it was back before they graduated the academy... maybe it was sometime during their many missions, or perhaps the Chuunin exams while fighting Sabaku no Gaara, or maybe it was just on their most recent mission. All he really did know was that Sakura meant the world to him, and even if it meant going against his life-long dream of being Hokage, he would be there for her.

His thoughts were snapped back to the present as he caught a glint of steel in his peripheral vision, several glints at that, coming from both directions. Naruto immediately molded chakra into his legs and jumped straight up, the shuriken clanging uselessly underneath him. His eyes searched the edges of the forest clearing he was in, hoping to find some sign of his opponent, but it was all in vain. He twisted his body so that he was hanging upside-down in the air. In a blur he pulled eight of his own projectiles, kunai.

The world seemed to slow down for the young ninja. All of a sudden the shurikens, moving fast enough to blur, slowed to a mere crawl. He counted the shurikens coming in a split second... nine. He didn't have time to grab an extra kunai, so he did the first thing he could think of, something that he had seen Sasuke did in their battle of battles... in the Valley of the End.

In an instant all eight kunai were flying through the air, whistling towards their targets. Seven of the shurikens were caught by kunai, the tip penetrating through the holes in the middle. He heard seven thuds of steel sinking into wood, and simultaneously a small, resounding clang as his last kunai hit the 8th shuriken, throwing it off course and crashing into it's neighbor in such an angle that it bounced back in almost the exact direction it had come from.

The boy landed with a soft crunch on the soft grass of the clearing, immediately kicking off the ground and up into the branches of the tall trees that surrounded him. Again he flipped, tucking himself as he spun through the air until his feet were parallel to the surface of the tree he was aiming for. He uncurled himself and focused his chakra into his feet once more as he landed, crouching sideways on the trunk of the tree. His eyes darted around, trying to find the source of the shurkens. Through the corner of his eye he caught a small glimpse of white.

Using his legs as something of a spring, Naruto again molded chakra into his feet, though this time repelling instead of attracting. This, combined with the spring motion from his legs, proved to be too much for the poor tree. Splinters and bits of wood scattered all over the place with the force of impact, the tree actually bending and springing back like a springboard, shaking loose the various animals hidden in the tree, who all ran for their lives.

Naruto had barely calculated correctly, he flew through the leaves towards his target, a huge grin on his face.

"Ero-sennin!" he yelled as he forced chakra into his wound fist, "GOTCHA!"

The blonde ninja's fist crashed into the side of Jiraiya's face, sending him flying back a few feet into a tree trunk, splintering and shattering it. The legendary Sannin had burst into smoke, pieces of shattered wood in his place. He felt a fist pound into his back... he grinned as he disappeared in a puff of smoke.

The real Jiraiya's eyes opened wide, _"When did he...?"_ his thought began, but was quickly cut off as he felt a hard pressure on the side of his face. This time it was the _real_ him that was sent into a tree, head first. The wood splintered and shattered, it was too close range, all he had time to do was push out chkara to soften the impact... but even then a dull pain was sent coursing through his body as he went _through_ the tree... bouncing on the forest ground, skidding a few feet before finally pushing his hand on the ground and flipping to his feet, throwing yet another shuriken at the boy.

Naruto grinned as the Shuriken hit his chest square... he disappeared in another puff of smoke.

_"Dammit! How many did he create!"_ he wondered.

The old self-proclaimed super pervert heard the wooshing chakra before the yells.

"RASENGAN!" he heard the voice echo. There were two of them, and they were close... too close...

_"When did he get that close? Or was he already there to begin with?" _thought the Sannin as he instantly prepared two of his own Rasengan... thrusting his arms outward to block both of the other Rasengan's... he was a clockwise type while Jiraiya was a counterclockwise type... both sphere's cancelled each other out, "Too--"

The man was cut off, however, as he felt swirling energy collide with his back... sending him flying into another tree... and this time he was so suprised that he didn't even have enough time to raise a proper defense.

"RASENGAN!" the boy yelled before he was sent crashing through two trees, skidding to a halt, flat on his stomach. The two clones disappeared... they were only distractions after all. Naruto skidded to a halt from his running Rasengan, grinning happily at the downed Sannin, who had, after a moment, gotten to his feet and dusted himself off.

"Heh! Take that!" said Naruto, tucking his hands behind his head. The boy suspected that Jiraiya had held back, but it was the first time he had ever been able to defeat his own sensei, under any condition.

Jiraiya smirked at the young boy, who was now jumping around and doing cartwheels and flips in joy, _"He's getting stronger..."_ thought the Sannin. He would have been able to avoid all of Naruto's attacks, had he not underestimated the boy so greatly. He knew that he would inevitably use the Kage Bunshin... but never in his wildest dreams did he ever think that Naruto would be able to pull off the technique so quickly that wouldn't notice it... he really _was_ the number one ninja at suprising people.

"Very good Naruto, I couldn't even see when you made the Kage Bunshins..." he admitted. He would have to be cautious about this... if Naruto knew that Jiraiya was _trying_... it would have boosted his confidence to the point of arrogance.

Naruto stopped his little dance of happiness as Jiraiya walked up to him, "I know, I did it when I was flying at you through the leaves. I had the leaves as cover, and you were focused on running, expecting an attack, so I made the Kage Bunshin yell as it attacked, that way you would create a Kawarimi and counter."

_Flashback_

Naruto was flying through the foilage towards Jiraiya, he formed the unique seal to the Kage Bunshin and swiftly jumped straight up. As expected, Jiraiya had used the Kawarimi no Jutsu to switch places with a piece of wood, and the real Jiraiya appeared to deliver a counter attack.

**"While I was in the air I used the Kage Bunshin again to make six more clones..." he continued his explanation.**

Naruto made the forbidden seal of the kinjutsu once more, six clones appearing...

**"And split them up... four of them where you would land after the first one hit you... while I hid myself and the last clone to watch where you would turn..."**

The clone delivered it's blow, sending Jiraiya flying. The four other clones were already charging the Rasengan, as was the real Naruto and the clone that had followed him.

**"After watching you jump to you're feat... I figured that you would try to cancel out both the Rasengan with your own two... I remember you once showing me that you could hold one in each hand... but this would force your back to be towards one direction... since your arms would be stretched out in either direction, you would be wide open as well... From how you landed, I guessed that you wouldn't turn around because it was a waste of movement, so I moved to wher eyour back would be facing, dismissing my clone and using the Kage Bunshin's battle cries as cover for the movement... and from there... well..."**

"RASENGAN!" both of the clones yelled as Naruto dropped to the ground, not 10 feet away from the Sannin as he cancelled out both attacks... he jumped forth, his own charged Rasengan slamming into his teacher's back, sending the perverted hermit flying.

_End Flashback_

To say Jiraiya was suprised would be an understatement... it was such an airtight plan that only someone with a doujutsu like Sharingan or Byaakugan could have hoped to actually see through it... but someone like him, who lacked any type of bloodline limit much less a powerful doujutsu, wouldn't have seen it coming, even if he was trying his hardest to win the fight. Naruto had outsmarted him.

_"Naruto's growing much faster than usual... in just two weeks he's already outsmarting me..." _thought the Sannin, _"It won't be long before he can beat me with brute force at this rate... it must be the desire to bring back Sasuke for Sakura..."_

"Impressive... let's call it a day... we've been training every day for the past two weeks." he suggested, "I haven't been able to get _any_ research done at all!"

Naruto glared. He highly disapproved of Ero-sennin's... research... but he knew that if Jiraiya didn't get to his peeping, he would become irritable, and take it out on him. Naruto gave a short nod and, with his hands shoved in his pockets, wandered back into the village of Konoha... they weren't very far from the gates.

During the walk home, he had more time to ponder Sakura's strange behaviour. What was he going to do? It wouldn't be long before he was approached by the pink-haired girl... and he was running out of options. He had noticed that Sakura had been trying to corner him as of late... and on several days he even had to go without ramen because she was standing outside of Ichiraku, obviously waiting for him to drop by as he usually did.

The boy let out an exasperated sigh... sooner or later he would have to tell her that she was the one who had caused him that pain... just not today.

* * *

The Hyuuga household was the very last place she went to. It wasn't because she disliked the Hyuuga's or anything, it was just that Sakura couldn't possibly suspect _Hinata _of all people to be the one that left Naruto, she was just too kind an innocent and thoroughly fond of the boy to have caused him any pain beyond an accidental head-butt when he had made her faint by being so close. Still... she was running out of options. She had been as desperate as to go to each girl's house in the village that Naruto knew, asking them if they had been with Naruto on that day. None of them had lied, even after she slipped them a veritaserum she had Tsunade-sama make for her.

_"Speaking of which... I don't have a whole lot of time for this... Tsunade-sama wanted me over for more training.."_ she mused internally.

After she had gotten home, she decided to train with the Sannin. Sakura was sick of being a hindrance, sick of being someone who couldn't properly take care of herself. Above all, however, she no longer wanted to be a danger to Naruto... or anyone else in the village that was willing to protect her.

_"I need to make this quick..."_ the pink-haired kunoichi decided as she wandered into the Hyuuga compound.

Luckily enough, Hinata was outside today, practicing her fabled Jyuuken. She moved gracefully as she practiced against an invisble opponent, her open-handed thrusts extremely powerful, making sweat fly off of her arm with each viscious attack. She wasn't wearing her usual outfit today... well... at least not all of it. She had removed her baggy pink hoodie, leaving her in a dark blue, form-fitting tank top that matched perfectly with her capris. Sakura suspected it was what she wore underneath that pink sweater-jacket she always wore. Now that she looked at Hinata, she wondered why the girl bothered to wear such a thing... she looked far prettier without it. Sakura noted that Hinata was currently using the Byaakugan and shuddered. Those eyes really creeped her out, much more than the Sharingan did.

"Hinata-chan!" called Sakura in greeting as she neared the girl, "Can I talk with you?"

The indigo-haired girl stopped mid-blow, her hands coming down to her sides as she turned to Sakura, "Hello Sakura-san..." she said a bit skittishly... she was never really a people-person. Sakura had noticed that her eyes had returned to their normal milky white, much to her delight, "Sure..."

Sakura nodded, "Well... it's about Naruto..." she said

"N-Naruto...?" asked the girl. Although she had become a lot more open towards people after the Chuunin exam, even the mention of Uzumaki Naruto made her blush profusely and stumble all over herself.

Sakura nodded, "Yeah... before he left to..." she paused, not wanting to remember that day at the moment, "go on a recovery mission... he said something that I've been wondering about for a while now..."

"W-what was it..?" asked the Hyuuga girl... her mind reeling over with fantasies about Naruto admitting his lover for her... but she quickly fished herself out of these, knowing that it wouldn't make sense to say something like that before a mission.

Her mind, however, remained stubborn, _"What if Sakura-san said that she loved Naruto for what she was doing, and said he loved me!" _she thought, making her blush, _"Sakura-san... has been asking around about Naruto a lot lately... and there have been rumors that she's chasing after him... so... maybe..."_

"He said... that he knew what it was like to lose someone important... _or at least that's what he implied"_ she added mentally at the end of her sentence, "I've been trying these past two weeks to find that person... so that I can bring her back to Naruto... like he's trying to do for Sasuke and I..."

Sakura didn't feel that there was any need to hide this from Hinata. She had to be one of the most trustworthy people she knew, albeit a little shy. That, and she was a girl... girls shared secrets with each other when they needed to let something out, and right now... she had been keeping in that secret for two weeks, much longer than she had intended.

Hinata frowned... so it wasn't that Naruto loved her after all. She kicked herself mentally for even thinking that. However... Sakura was saying that she would set that girl up with Naruto. It was a chance for her. It wasn't because she was greedy and wanted Naruto all to herself... but rather she wanted to know if she actually stood a chance with him at all... he always seemed so devoted to the girl that was right before her... while the girl that was standing in front of her was devoted to someone else entirely. She wanted to know how far she could get exactly... so before she could stop herself...

"It was me... I was the one who left Naruto..."

A/N: Well, what do you think? I apologize for the long fight scene with Jiraiya and Naruto... but this _is_ part action/adventure. It's there to emphasize just how badly he wants to keep his promise. I apologize also that it's excessively longer than the last chapter... I just started and couldn't stop. Thanks again for all your support! I'm going to finish up this story for sure!


	3. Doesn't Feel Right

A/N: Heh, a lot of people seemed to be stirred and confused about HInata's little development... and I'm glad. Over 1000 hits and 25 reviews! I'm really happy that this story is turning out so popular! I'll continue to send out chapters as quickly as possible. I'd say it's pretty reasonable to expect at least a chapter every two or three days. However, I'm going to be moving soon and my internet will be shut off for a short while while we get settled in. I know that I'm going to be moving sometime next week or the week after that. If time allows, I'll put it in a chapter how long exactly I'll be long. Also, we're moving pretty far away and I'm going to be attending the same school, so don't be suprised if I start only pumping out a chapter or 2 a week starting next month. Now, I can't resist on commenting on some of the reviews.

Hououza - Thanks for the comment on the Naruto and Jiraiya fight. I always thought that after the incident in the Tea Country... Naruto would have gotten at least a _little_ smarter.

Bibbidy - Yeah... if everything works out to plan, than there should be some fluff here and there, though maybe not as much as you think. With any luck, I can balance it out into drama/romance/angst/action/adventure. That was the intention when I started this story... but of course, only allows us to choose two genres --.

Morsamare - Hey... the girl's in love with Naruto in this fic... it isn't some silly crush like most people make it out to be. Tell me, if you truly loved someone would you pass up the opportunity to see if you could nab them? Also... Naruto knows that Sakura's been asking about him, yes, and he definitely knows that it has something to do with finding the one that hurt him, but she has no idea of what Sakura is _actually_ intending to do and... well, telling any more would ruin the story, so you'll just have to read and see :p.

Everyone else - Thanks so much for the reviews! I find it astonishing as to how quickly this fanfiction is growing in the standings of the Naruto fandom. I seriously didn't expect it to be this popular! Oh yeah, there was one person who asked about timing too... I believe I stated the timing in my first A/N .

Once again I'd like to stress that this is a **_NARUSAKU_** fic... not a NaruHina fic. I have to throw that in there for development. Please try and understand!

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**Promise of a Lifetime**  
** Chapter 3: Doesn't Feel Right**

"It was me... I was the one who left Naruto..." the indigo haired girl

Sakura couldn't believe her ears. Didn't Hinata have a huge crush on Naruto? Why would she actually reject him and hurt his feelings so bad? Suddenly the thoughts were replaced with a sudden inexplicable rage.

"You..." she said, shaking in anger, "You're the one who hurt Naruto...?"

The girl was seething in fury. She had forgotten all about her plan to bring Naruto and whoever his girl was back together. The primal instinct to kill the girl standing in front of her began to take over. Hinata took a step back at the look of pure rage in Sakura's eyes, she had to think of _something_ or there wouldn't be anything left of her in a second.

"I-it's not my fault!" she cried, taking another step back as Sakura took a step closer to her. The Hyuuga girl had to think of something_, anything_... if nothing else, just to keep her from getting killed. She knew she wouldn't be able to stand up against an enraged Sakura. Then it hit her.

"M-my parents!" She said shakily, unconsciously activating her Byaakugan in case this wouldn't work. She had no intention of fighting, but she could use the Byaakugan's powers to help her escape until the girl cooled down a bit, "y-y-you know that I can't b-be with anyone outside the H-Hyuuga clan!"

Sakura pondered this for a moment... and slowly, her body relaxed, she stopped trembling, and her fists unclenched. The girl could feel where her nails had dug into her palms. What she said made sense. The Hyuuga clan had always been rather... protective of their bloodline limit, and as a result, they never let anyone in the main family be with someone outside of the Hyuuga family. She suspected that Naruto had opened his eyes to Hinata and was rejected.

A sudden sadness filled Sakura, that must have been hard. She knew first hand what it was like to be rejected by the one you love, even if there was a perfectly good reason. She was suprised that Naruto even had the strength to smile. Another pang of guilt went through her heart as she remembered just how badly she used to treat him. In the earlier days she even lectured him after throwing he had thrown his life on the line about how idiotic he was being.

Then another feeling shot through the very core of her being. It wasn't hatred... more of, the type of thing she felt when Ino clung to Sasuke. Jealousy? No... it couldn't be. Sure she had grown to respect her playful shinobi team mate... but that was all there was, her heart belonged to Sasuke, so why would she be jealous about a boy like Naruto? She pondered this for a second, and settled on the fact that Naruto had actually gone to Hinata, and that she wished Sasuke would do something like that for her. She would get Hinata to go back with Naruto, even if she had to fight _the_ Hyuuga Hiashi just to do it.

Hinata, on the other hand, let out an internal sigh of relief. With her Byaakugan she could carefully watch all of Sakura's emotions. First there was sadness... indicated by how her eyes began to shake slightly and mist, as well as narrowing slightly. Then her eyes looked to the ground, indicating shame or guilt, and still that sadness had dominated her features. When Sakura's eyes came to look at her again, there was a fire behind her eyes, not hatred but... she was jealous of her. Hinata then saw her brows furrow slightly, almost unnoticable to anyone but a Hyuuga, this told Hinata that Sakura was confused... this was followed by a small, look of depression and determination mixing together.

The blue-haired girl sighed internally again, this time sadly, finally dismissing her Byaakugan, quite certain that she wouldn't attack. It was easy for her to put two and two together. Sakura was confused about how she felt towards Naruto. She could see clearly that the pink-haired girl as attracted to... maybe even loved Naruto. She began to have second thoughts about her plan... Sakura was developing feelings for Naruto... strong ones.

_"Sakura-san..."_ she thought, _"I'm sorry... but I have to know... I have to know what Naruto-kun _truly_ thinks of me..."_

It was the only thing she wanted, nothing else, _"After I know how he feels... I'll tell her the truth..."_ she decided finally.

Sakura let a sad smile cross her lips, "Alright, Hinata-chan," she said brightly, the sadness slowly leaking away, "I'm going to bring you and Naruto back together, if it's the very last thing I do!"

Hinata felt a pang of guilt, knowing how depressed the girl would be later... when she eliminated all other possibilities but herself. She would shield her from it for a while, she decided, but not for long.

_"After all..."_ thought the blue-haired girl sadly, _"If she doesn't figure out that Naruto-kun loves her... then she'll never realize just how much she loves him. She's doing so much for him after he did so much for her... she must think she's just repaying a favor... but if that were the case she wouldn't have gotten angry when I said I was the one who left him. She doesn't realize it yet... but she cares for Naruto-kun as much more than a friend... she probably even cares for him... greater than I do..."_

Hinata feigned a look of shock... then her face brightened into a truly grateful smile, though not for the reasons Sakura intended.

_"I know Naruto-kun loves Sakura-san... he hasn't been keeping it a secret... it's amazing that Sakura-san hasn't noticed yet." _The girl mused internally as she yelled an excited "H-hai!"

If there was anything the Byaakugan had taught her, it was how to control her emotions. She knew the signs of certain types of emotion, and could hide them very well now. It was a skill that Kurenai had been very impressed with, she could even bluff other Hyuuga at this point. It was an incredibly ability for a ninja to have.

Hinata looked up to the pink-haired girl, who was leading her to one of Naruto-kun's usual hideouts, Ichiraku Ramen. Her sadness amplifying to new heights, though she didn't let it show. It would devistate her when she found out... but she couldn't help it. She knew that Naruto could only be truly happy with Sakura... and Sakura was finally starting to like Naruto, but she had to hear it from Naruto himself before she could fully let him go.

_"I'm sorry for decieving you..."_ her mind said, as she looked at the back of the girl, _"please understand... it won't be for long..."  
_

_

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_  
Naruto slurped at his ramen slowly, much like a normal person would have eaten it. His mind too far away to even notice the wonderful flavor of the miso ramen he was eating. He couldn't help but wonder what Sakura was trying to accomplish these past two weeks. He knew that she was trying to find the so-called 'girl that hurt him.' That much was for sure. His mind wandered to how she would react when she figured out that _she_ was the only girl she had seen that day. That wasn't the only thing though... he wondered what she would have done if it was someone else. She didn't seem the type to take revenge... and even then, she would never do something like that for him, right?

"Naruto..." came a voice from above him, "Are you okay..?"

It was the owner of Ichiraku, who he had become quite close to over the years. The man was someone he could trust and talk to, he had been the first to know of Naruto's crush... no, his love... of Sakura. In a sense, the owner of this place was to as like a stereo-typical bartender was to a troubled young man, who took to drowning himself in alcohol to solve his woes. Instead of alcohol, however, Naruto drowned himself in ramen, or rather didn't... if things were really severe.

The spiky-haired shinobi looked up to him, "Yeah... just thinking about some things, Tameshi-san..."

"It's that Sakura girl agian, isn't it?" he asked with a small frown, "what happened this time?"

"I don't know, that's the problem" said Naruto before taking another slurp of ramen, "I told her something two weeks ago... something I really shouldn't have..."

"Did you finally tell that girl that you love her?" asked the Tameshi, a small grin on his face.

Naruto flushed, "No! No... I could never do that, I can't..." he said, quickly falling back into his depression.

"And why not? You love her don't you? And you definitely deserve her more than that Uchiha traitor!" Tameshi replied, slightly agry.

Naruto winced at hearing Sasuke being called a traitor... he _had_ betrayed Konoha for power... Sasuke had betrayed _him_ for power. Yet still, he just couldn't believe him to be a traitor. Sakura loved him after all, and he had made a promise to bring him back... and above all, he respected Sasuke, as a rival.. and a friend. So in his mind... yes Sasuke had betrayed him... Sakura... Kakashi... and all the rest of Konoha, but Naruto just couldn't see him as a traitor... not after what had happened during their battle.

_Flashback_

Naruto flew at Sasuke, the ball of randomly spinning Chakra held in one hand. He had been able to generate it in one hand because of Kyuubi's power. Sasuke did the same... the grotesque, hand-like wings propelling him through the air as fast as Naruto himself could go. He held in his hand, however, his own ultimate attack; a ball of violently crackling electricity. The bolts of electricity violently crackling around his hand had a black tinge to them... thanks to the power of the cursed seal Orochimaru had given him.

"CHIDORI!" "RASENGAN!"

They both called at the same time, their attacks crashing together. The chakra was being smashed together so violently that the planet trembled, as if in fear of the two beings that fought on it's surface. Things seemed to slow down for the both of them as their attacks clashed. Naruto's eyes widened as he saw Sasuke's hand slip past his own. His hand was out-stretched, his fingers ready to dig through Naruto's chest and rip out his very heart.

_"This is it..."_ Naruto thought as he saw the thrust heading right for his heart, _"I'm sorry, Sakura-chan..." _

As his last action he reached out, his clawed hand going for Sasuke's Konoha forehead protector... he couldn't kill Sasuke, he had promised Sakura that he wouldn't... and even if he hadn't promised Sakura, he couldn't kill him, he was just too close a friend. So instead he would leave a message. As quick as lightning, the Uchiha boy closed his hand into a fist, and instead of tearing through the flesh of the boy, he merely dug his fist into Naruto's chest... breaking a rib maybe, but nothing life-threatening. Sasuke couldn't do it... he could have won, but didn't. At the same instant, his claw dug through Sasuke's headband... letting him know..._ 'I could have won...' _The very same message that Sasuke had sent pummeling into his chest.

_End Fleshback_

They had spared each other on that day. They couldn't kill each other... it was just too painful. So he still couldn't see Sasuke as a traitor... not yet. It was true that he was with Orochimaru now, and the possibillity was high that he had changed, but Naruto really hoped that Sasuke was still Sasuke. He wanted to see Sakura smile agian, he wanted her to be happy, even if it wasn't with him... and he wanted his rival back, the one who he could look to as a brother.

Naruto opened his mouth to reply, but was promptly cut off as the bells attatched to the curtains of the stand rang.

"Irasshai!" Tameshi said, turning away from the boy to get back to his work.

"Naruto!" came the voice that Naruto had dreaded to hear in such a long time.

The spiky-haired boy closed his eyes and let out an inward sigh before turning around, putting on his best grin... he didn't want Sakura to worry about him, "Sakura-chan! How have-- Hinata-chan? What are you doing here? I've never seen you eat ramen in my life!"

Sakura put on a little smirk, "_She's_ here to go on a date with you!" said the pink-haired girl, causing her companion to blush profusely.

Naruto blinked in confusion, "What?" he asked. The boy had to make sure that his ears were working properly.

This only caused the Hyuuga girl to blush even more, "I... I want to go on a date with you..." she said, making her go as read as Sakura's dress.

_"So that's what it is..._" he thought, realization dawning on him, _"Sakura-chan wants me to forget about 'the one who hurt me'... and she set up a date..."_

The boy looked at Sakura, who seemed genuinely happy and proud of her work. She was smiling, that same intoxicating smile that consumed him every time she used it. It was rare that her smile was directed at him... and he didn't want to see that smile fade away.

After while where Naruto was seemingly processing the request, he slowly nodded. Sakura chan's smile brightened as did Hinata's blush.

_"I'm keeping my promise to Naruto... my promise of a lifetime... but this doesn't feel right..."_

_"I finally get to go out with Naruto-kun... he even agreed to it... but this doesn't feel right..."_

_"Sakura-chan is smiling... she seems so happy... but this doesn't feel right..."_

"Alright... Hinata-chan, I'll go on a date with you, how about this Saturday?"

_"So why am I letting it happen...?"_

_

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_A/N: Mreh... something just doesn't seem right about this chapter, actually one of the inspirations for it's name. I felt like I kept repeating the same point too much. However, I got everything done that I wanted to. For those of you that are slow on the uptake, the last four thoughts are, respectively... Sakura's, Hinata's, Naruto's... and all of them at once. Anyway... this is quite possibly the worst chapter in this story so far... and I fear that I might actually lose some readers because of it, but I couldn't figure out a better way to write this... perhaps I'm losing my touch. At any rate, I again remind you that this _IS_ a NaruSaku fic... NOT a NaruHina fic... I just had to throw that in there to help progress the story.


	4. Sasuke's Return and Naruto's Hiden Aiton

A/N: As I feared, I've gotten complaints about the characters' actions... namely Narutos. Allow me to remind you that Naruto is 100 devoted to Sakura, and even if something doesn't feel right, he'll do it if he thinks it'll make Sakura happy. If he knew that SAKURA didn't feel happy, he would immediately take steps to fix it. I was hoping that it was possible for some of you to read deeply into the meaning and find that Naruto values Sakura more than anything, but I guess some of you are more interested in me keeping the characters _exactly as they should act. _I was tempted to refuse to write another chapter out of spite... but then I realized it was mostly my fault. I didn't leave enough explanations. So here's a quick explanation.

Naruto truly believes right now that Sakura is happy, it's because of this that he's not fixing whatever doesn't seem right. He thinks it isn't right that he loves the girl so much and yet there she was, setting him up with a date and _smiling_ about it. That's what didn't feel right to him, not that Sakura's smile seemed weird, but that he seemed to be on the shit end of the stick. Remember, you as the reader know a lot more than Naruto does... you may be able to literally read Haruno Sakura's thoughts, but Naruto sure as Hell can't... he's never been good at reading emotions in the first place, remember? Besides, Hinata was there... how could he say no, especially if he doesn't like to hurt people as kind as Hinata.

Anyway... with my rant complete, I wanna thank those of you who reviewed, it means a lot to me, it really does. I'm hoping that I can continue pumping out chapters at a steady pace. I learned that the deal on the house is closing by the 19th... so I might be out of here by the 23rd... and might not be back for a month afterwards. Until then I hope I can hold everyone's interest with... maybe a really big cliffhanger? -evil laugh-

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**  
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** Promise of a Lifetime**  
** Chapter 4: Sasuke's Return and Naruto's Hiden Aiton**

Naruto had taken her out to dinner at a casual sit-down resteraunt close to the borders of of the hidden village of Konoha. Any normal date would have complained about such a date, expecting something all together more... flashy and extravegant, especially for a first date. Hinata understood though, up until he became a Genin, Naruto was being taken care of by a village that hated his existance. Anything 'flashy and extravegant' would be something Naruto could not recover from financially unless he started going on higher level C- or B-class missions. Sinec he had not been able to complete the Chuunin exam, he couldn't do anything higher than a low-level C class job... and even then, he hadn't gone on anything more than a D mission in weeks, and the commission from his recent S-class reconaissance mission to Orochimaru's place was probably waning by now. Something like this, to Naruto, was as flashy and extravogant as he could afford.

Hinata picked idly at her food, her eyes full of concern for the boy sitting across from her. He had agreed to take her on a date because of Sakura's request... but the Hyuuga girl was beginning to think that was the only reason Naruto was here with her. He seemed lifeless... sitting there, picking at the oyster katsu curry he had ordered. It was only half eaten, a sure sign of trouble. When someone as perpetually hungry as Naruto couldn't eat properly, it meant that something was seriously wrong.

"Naruto-kun...?" she asked tentatively, "what's wrong...?"

Her stutter had disappeared. Gone were the days when the kind, shy kunoichi would stutter on every sentence. She had been learning to control that habit since the Chuunin exam, and now only stuttered when frightened or deeply embarassed. The young ninja looked up towards his date. His eyes were piercing... measuring. He seemed to be sizing her up, gauging something. Hinata inwardly frowned, knowing somewhere deep inside her soul that this moment was going to come whether she liked it or not.

"Hinata..." began Naruto, "I like you... I really do..."

Hinata could almost hear the 'but' before it actually came out. She spent the time steeling herself, preparing for the emotional damage he was inevitably going to cause her... whether he meant it or not.

"but... we can't do this. I... I'm in love with someone else..." he admitted, "She may be bossy sometimes, and sometimes she's pretty demanding... she even loves another guy all together... it's just..."

Suprisingly, the pain didn't come. Instead a sudden easiness washed over her. She felt relieved. She finally knew exactly where she stood with the him. Naruto liked her... but he wasn't in love with her. All the fear of rejection melted away, she hadn't been rejected... not entirely. She could still be friends with him, still be close to him. She realized that that was all she wanted from the start. She wanted to be there for him, be close to him, as close as possible. Hinata was as close as she could get without becoming a nuisance... and she accepted that. The best part about this was that Naruto had done everything before she even had to ask. She never had to tell him how much she cared to put another burden on his already heavily-laden shoulders.

"I understand." She said, smiling lightly, "You can't stop thinking about her. It hurts too much when you're with me because you keep wondering what it's like when I'm in her place."

Naruto nodded, she had hit it right on the button, "I'm sorry Hinata."

"Don't be. I-I w-want to be c-close to you, Naruto-kun." she stuttered, blushing brightly, "that's all..."

"Thanks, Hinata-chan," he said, smiling, "Let's finish up this date, but only as friends, okay? We can tell Sakura-chan that--"

He was suddenly cut off, however, as a large explosion shook the small restraunt violently, causing glasses and dishes to fall all over the plass, shattering on the ground. Naruto immediately jumped to his feet, as did Hinata and a few other ninjas who happened to be dining in the small restraunt, the rest of the crowd taking cover under their tables and chairs as more explosions made the very earth under their feet shudder.

"Come on, let's go!" cried one of the shinobi.

"Hinata! Check for enemies!" ordered Naruto as he and Hinata raced out of the restraunt, followed swiftly by a small unit of ninjas.

Hinata nodded and closed her eyes in concentration for a moment as she followed Naruto. They could all see the damage to the wall from here, part of it was completely destroyed, a hole large enough for Gamabunta to fit through was burning even larger, a fire elemental technique had burned through the walls surrounding Konoha.

_"Byaakugan!"_ she cried in her thoughts. The nerves and blood vessels leading to her eyes swelled as she activated her bloodline limit, allowing her sense of sight to reach out in an almost perfect 360 degree sphere.

"There's 20... no 30... no.. wait... I can't count them all fast enough!" she called to Naruto.

"My god... who are they?" asked one of the other ninja that had accompanied them, deciding that following the Hyuuga girl would have been their best bet for staying alive.

"I can't see their forehead protectors, but their definitely ninja!" replied the young girl as she hopped along the rooftops with the rest, "They're all over the place!"

"Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" called out Naruto.

Suddenly Hinata and the three other ninjas that decided to come with them were running amongst a herd of orange-clad shinobi. The three unknown Konoha shinobis all widened their eyes. The Kage Bunshin no Jutsu was not unheard of... but such a large number of clones was pretty rare. There had to be at least a hundred.

"Alright! Everyone it's time for search and destroy! Hunt down everyone who isn't from Konoha and beat the crap out of them!" yelled Naruto.

There were a bunch of cries of excitement, of agreement, and of confirm ment as all 100 Naruto's dashed off in different directions at once just before they reached the destroyed gate. What they saw astonished them. There were ninjas left and right, all in the middle of battle, many Konoha ninjas were scattered over the ground as well as the attacking ninjas. All of this was basking in the soft orange glow from the flames of the burning gate. The other three ninjas and Hinata immediately leapt into battle, finding and engaging with a foe. Naruto's fist curled into a ball as he saw the forehead protector of one of the fallen ninja. They were sound ninja, but that meant that... he looked up to the gigantic hole in the wall. There, not more than 40 yards from him... stood the boy he had promised to bring back to Sakura.

"Sasuke...!" He growled in rage.

Red chakra spilled from his body in massive quantities as he stared down the boy. It wasn't something he could help at this point... he had had a long discussion with the Kyuubi inside of him after he had fought Sasuke. For the first time in it's entire existance, the demon was scared during that fight. He had poured almost all of his power into Naruto and Sasuke had still overpowered him. The fox... after being so close to death, agreed to let the boy use his power whenever he felt it necessary, without the downfall of losing control. This emission of red chakra wasn't of Naruto's will, however... it was the Kyuubi, remembering their last encounter with the Uchiha.

"Naruto..." said the black-haired boy casually, as if it were just a normal day and things weren't on fire and people weren't being slaughtered left and right. "I don't have time to deal with you today, dobe..."

_"Something's changed in him..."_ thought Naruto, _"His eyes are different..."_

There was a deep coldness embedded within his eyes. A coldness that was on par with Orochimaru's. Even when Naruto had fought him, Sasuke still held at least a _little_ light in his eyes. This wasn't the Sasuke that Sakura thought of as a lover... this wasn't the Sasuke that Naruto thought of as a brother. This Sasuke wasn't even the Sasuke he fought in the Valley of the End. This Sasuke... he was pure evil, he had a more evil air around him than Orochimaru himself did.

"I'm here for Sakura..." he said with a small smirk.

Naruto's eyes widened at this, "S-sakura! What do you want with her!" he demanded... his 'whiskers' becoming more defined and his nails turned into sharp claws at the mere mention of him being after Sakura.

"Power..." explained the boy, his smirk widening into a grin as he began to laugh. It was a maniacal laugh... but it was also a calm, dangerous laugh, "I can gain even more power through her... Orochimaru has shown me a powerful kinjutsu... one that will finally give me the power to kill Itachi... and afterwards... you."

In a flash, the boy disappeared. Naruto, with his Kyuubi-enhanced speed and reflexes, took off after him. Naruto could barely keep up with Sasuke, racing along the rooftops at maddening speed, sending roof tiles flying with each step. At that rate, it wasn't long before they found her. She was running along the rooftops as well. He saw out of the corner of his eyes Sasuke forming a familiar set of seals.

_"The Chidori!" _thought Naruto as he put on an extra burst of speed... Sakura hadn't seen either of them yet, and her only hope was if Naruto got their first, _"Is he really planning to kill her! My only chance is... that technique!"_

The Chidori was completed and black lightning crackled around Sasuke's form. Naruto's chakra enhanced speed managed to get him in front of Sakura, who let out a startled, "Naruto! What are you--?" as she stopped.

Naruto's clawed hands moved at blinding speeds as he formed the proper seals, _"Ryu, Usagi, Uma, Inu, Saru, Tori, Ousu-buta, Ryu, Hebi, Tora, O-hitsuji, Tori, Tora, Ryu,O-ushi, Uma, Inu!"_ He thought as his hands blurred the seals.

"HIDEN AITON! SAKURA KEKKAI NO JUTSU!" he screamed as he thrust his out to either side of him, a small swirl of wind circled around Sakura and himself just before the Chidori connected... with a swirling mass of small beads of chakra. The chakra was a strange color... a pinkish purple, as where most people held white or bluish white chakra. Every time an arc of electricity threatened to go around the small barrier of pinkish chakra, another small bead of chakra would appear.

To say that Sasuke was suprised would be an understatement. He stared wide eyed as he jumped away, the Chidori already gone.

"A barrier that can stand against the Chidori! Impossible!" yelled Sasuke, his normally black eyes turning as blood red as Naruto's as he activated his bloodline limit, the Sharingan. As soon as he did, his eyes opened as wide as they could... he could see why he couldn't get through it already.

The small beads of chakra that had deflected his attack faded into view all around himself and Sakura. Each and every one of the beads resembled the heart-shaped petal of a cherry-blossom. With his Sharingan activated, he could actually see what was happening.

"Hiden Aiton, Sakura Kekkai no Jutsu..." repeated Naruto, "It's a technique that uses both of my chakra sources... a normal barrier works by sending chakra out in a steady stream that rotates in one direction, and wastes a lot of chakra... not to mention has a very weak point... it also requires that you constantly concentrate on maintaining the barrier, or else it will fail..."

"_This_ barrier, however, uses chakra in small beads that jump in the way of attacks, that way I don't waste a lot of energy... when an attack does come, the chakra rotates in two different directions...so there _is_ no week spot... and it isn't controlled by me..." Naruto said, grinning.

Sasuke gave a low, dangerous growl... it was a technique that he couldn't copy... he didn't have two sources of chakra, and even if he did, he didn't have the second mind to maintain the flow. He remembered the fight back then... how Naruto's chakra seemed to be able to move on it's own... and it protected him... just like...

"So in other words..." the orange-clad ninja continued, "this is a more perfect defense than Gaara's!"

Sasuke twitched in fury as he looked up at Naruto. It was true... there was no way he could get through that with any attack. It was impenetrable. Even if he made a saw with his chakra that opposed the flow of chakra of his barrier... the other part of the barrier that was spinning in an opposite direction would repel any attack.

Sakura had fallen down at this point, staring between the two boys. She was in shock... so much had happened so fast. Her head turned to Sasuke... her lover... something was strange about him. He seemed darker than before... colder than she had ever seen him... and she couldn't find even a little of the old Sasuke in those eyes of him... what happened to him?

"S-sasuke-kun..." she whispered to herself, finally finding her voice as she slowly stood up, "w-what happened... to you...?"

"Naruto... get out of the way. This has nothing to do with you!" yelled Sasuke, irritated, "I'm here to kill _her!_"

Sakura's eyes widened at these words. Tears began to roll down her cheeks, Sasuke... wanted to kill her? That didn't make sense. She had told him she loved him, she told him she would do anything for him. She had given up her best friend for Sasuke-kun... he wanted to kill her...? Her thoughts were interrupted as she heard a monstorous growl from Naruto... it was inhuman, and filled with a deep-seeded rage. She was at a loss for words.

"If you even lay a _finger_ on Sakura-chan..." Naruto breathed visciously, "I'll make you regret breathing..."

"As if you could..." Sasuke said nonchalantly, then looked away as if distracted, "Dammit. I'm sorry I can't stay to play with you some more... but it's time for me to leave..."

Naruto followed his gaze... and he could see them coming. Jiraiya and Tsunade, both of them dashing towards them at full speed.

"Sakura." He said, the girl looking up at the black haired boy, who licked his lips, "I can't wait to taste your blood..."

With that, he vanished, moving with such great speed that it couldn't be tracked by the human eye. Naruto's eyes followed Sasuke as he ran, making sure that he was over the Konoha wall before he finally let the barrier down, sighing heavily. Making that barrier, even though he didn't have to concentrate to maintain it, put a constant drain on his chakra. His eyes reverted back to their normal blue.

The poor, pink haired girl was shaking in fright, Sasuke's words echoing in her mind; _"I can't wait to taste your blood..." _It sent shivers down her spine... was that really the boy she had fallen in love with? _"I'm here to kill _her! he had come back... but to kill her. It was too much for the girl to take. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head as she got light-headed and began to lose her balance. She hit the tiles of the roof with a light thud... the last thing that she saw before she fainted was a pair of beautiful blue eyes, filled with worry.

* * *

A/N: Sorry about this chapter. Again, something didn't feel quite right... I think I may have missed something again. It has nothing to do with Sasuke.. I'll explain about his odd behavior later. Still, as I wrote this, something felt a little out of place. Anyway, I'm going to take a short break from writing this fic, though I suspect I'll be able to get another chapter up by this Saturday, if I'm lucky. 


	5. The Demon Inside Me

A/N: Well, despite what I said, I can't turn down my adoring public... eh... that and there's no way I can stop writing this now, I can't help but wonder where my fingers will take me next. To tell the truth, I have no idea what's going to happen in this story until I type it... there's no "grand master plan." I mean, I have a vague idea of where I want the story to go, but all the little details and scenes and characters and dialogue only come out when I actually start typing. Anyway, that seems to be good enough for all of you -shrug- so I'll keep doing it that way. First, however, I need to answer my 'fanmail' (reviews).

Hououza - That Star Trek quote isn't entirely true about Naruto... for him it's more like, "The good of the few and the many aren't any better than anyone's... unless 'anyone' means Sakura" Remember, he lives to protect _everyone_. He wants to be Hokage, everybody's hero! Also, you mentioned something about Sakura not questioning the dual chakra sources? I think you misunderstand the concept of 'SHOCK'... see, she was so shaken by what Sasuke said she couldn't even question such strange things as Naruto's 'Hiden Aiton' or two sources of chakra or even the fact that he wasn't in control of his own barrier.

miscleafnin - To oppose your argument... judging from the fact that he _did_ create tidal waves with a simple motion... I'd say that he was in full Kyuubi mode. It wasn't just what his body could handle, because if you remember, the red chakra that Kyuubi was providing was, in fact, damaging Naruto's body. Besides, do you really think Kyuubi would just sit on his ass and give only as much power as the boy could handle if it's very existance was at stake? I for one, think you are insulting Kyuubi's wisdom and intelligence. As for Sasuke's cursed seal... any _normal_ ninja who could survive blows like that is waaay beyond Jounin level. None of the other of the Sound 5, even Kimimaru displayed as much power as Sasuke did. Even the Kage-level battle between Orochimaru and Sarutobi wasn't as heavily violent or as destructive as Sasuke and Naruto's, which means that their battle was _at least_ above a Kage-level battle. Furthermore... you talked about Kyuubi's full power being more chakra than everyone in Konoha combined. This is true... in fact, during the Sasuke Naruto battle, he completely outclassed Sasuke in terms of chakra, and was producing WAY more than Sasuke was. His cursed seal put him on an equal level to that amount of chakra, as well... so I believe I'm not over- or under- estimating anything. As for this being a hindrance to his development... it isn't. Just because you have a near-limitless amount of chakra doesn't mean that you can win, Sasuke proved that. They both have plenty of room to improve... Naruto by developing better control over the Kyuubi's powers as well as increasing his _own_ chakra reserves... and finding a way to become faster... and Sasuke by putting more power behind his blows and finding a way to generate even more chakra. The only reason Itachi is better than both Naruto and Sasuke at that level of a fight is because he can produce a lot more chakra than Sasuke can, though I doubt as much as Naruto can... and has even more skill and control over his abilities. Not to mention he's way faster than the two of them combined _and_ his blows pack a lot more punch. He's a perfect balance between Naruto's near limitless chakra and massive strength, and Sasuke's incredible speed and inhuman skill.

Ming-Shun - No... again, it seems some people don't understand the concept of being in shock. Also, about Sasuke's Sharingan. He doesn't like to use it if he can help it, remember? He said to Naruto something about being able to conserve chakra by not using it, as the Sharingan, like most doujutsu, puts a constant drain on chakra. I'll tell you that he's kicking himself for not using it in the first place, though .

Everyone else- Thanks so much for reviewing! I can now brag that I have adoring fans who appreciate my work! -bows- Domo arigatoo gozaimasu! Oh... I almost forgot... it seems that my internet will be shutting off _VERY_ soon... I may not be able to get another chapter up in a very long time.

* * *

**Promise of a Lifetime  
****Chapter 5: The Demon Inside Me**

Sakura lay on the stiff, uncomfortable hopital bed, stairing at the cieling as if it held all the answers.

_"Sasuke-kun... he wants to kill me..."_ she thought as tears began to brim in her eyes, _"Why...? Why does he want me dead? Am I really that annoying to him?"_

She could still see his cold, unforgiving eyes penetrating her very soul. His eyes had changed... there was a time when she could look into his eyes and blush from embarassment... now... whenever she just thought of this eyes, all she could do was shiver in fear. She could still hear his words from last night...

_'I can't wait... to taste your blood...'_

Her mind instantly fought against this image of Sasuke. That couldn't be her Sasuke-kun! It was nothing more than a henge, it had to be! Sasuke-kun was dark, mysterious, and cold most of the time... but he was strong! Her Sasuke-kun would never actually try to... kill her.

_"DAMN RIGHT HE WOULDN'T!" _a voice yelled inside of her head... her own voice.. her 'Inner Sakura', _"That Sasuke isn't my Sasuke-kun, dammit!"_

Her inner voice was right, of course. It wasn't her Sasuke-kun, because her Sasuke-kun was kind and compassionate. _ Her_ Sasuke-kun cared for her enough to save her from an incoming attack... and actually cared for her. She realized with a start... that such a Sasuke didn't exist. He was always cold and distant, never empathetic at all. Sasuke had never once showed her that she returned even an ounce of her affections... even out of pity. It wasn't a replication, it really _was_ Sasuke.

He had never even given her the courtesy of telling her he didn't want her. Sakura thought that because he wasn't telling her not to... he didn't mind that she was chasing him, that she actually stood a chance and if she just got stronger... and if she was persistent enough... she could actually have him.

_'I can't wait... to taste your blood...'_

His voice rang through her head again. It was a lie... it was all a lie, she never stood a chance with him at all, not even the smallest bit of a chance. She was just annoying, the most annoying girl in the world to Sasuke... he would never love her the way that she loved him.

_"If only..."_ she turned her head, her eyes finally coming upon the sleeping, blonde haired boy in the corner, _"If only he were more like Naruto..."_

She froze, her tears suddenly gone from her eyes. Did she just think that Naruto... the boy who had constantly pestered and interfered in her pursuit of a certain Uchiha boy... had something over Sasuke... the dark, mysterious, and beautiful boy whom she had given her heart to? The boy that she had thought to be perfect since the age of five? Her shocked look gave way to a small smile. Naruto had always been there for her, he always protected her... he was fun, exciting and determined... and he was good. Yes... Naruto did have something on Sasuke... she realized for the first time.

Naruto had been there the whole time, sleeping. He was apparently exhausted from his small encounter with Sasuke. It must have put a huge strain on his chakra to deflect the Chidori, even if he was using a second chakra source. Again she paused...

_"Since when does Naruto have two sourced of chakra?" _she wondered as she watched his chest rise and fall rythmically, _"he said something about not controlling the barrier either... but how is that possible?"_

She became suddenly curious about him, the shadow of Sasuke in her mind giving way to this new interest. She had never gotten much more than his name from Naruto. She was never interested in how he got along with no parents, just what kind of abilities he had or anything of the sort. Hell, she had only ever trained with him when Kakashi-sensei was present. Questions unbidden filled her mind about the orange-clad boy sitting not 10 feet away from her.

What happened to his parents? How did he survive so long? Where did he get his second source of chakra? Was that ability Naruto's own bloodline limit? Who was controlling that barrier if it wasn't Naruto? When did he have time to create the Hiden Aiton?

Again her mind paused, remembering the powerful technique that had saved her life. Hiden Aiton: Sakura Kekkai no Jutsu. It was an incredibly technique and required a lot of seals. The name puzzled her... Secret Love Technique? Cherry Blossom Barrier? As far as she knew... the elements that could be utilized in ninjutsu were Ho (Fire), Mizu (Water), Rai (Lightning), Tsuchi (Earth), and Kaze (Wind)... as well as the mostly kinjutsu element Kage (Shadow). Ai (Love) was never an element before... had Naruto created it?

Sasuke now completely forgotten... she continued to wonder on about the boy, not really realizing how mysterious he was in his own right until now. There were things about him that didn't add up... how had he defeated Haku on their first mission? How could he stop Orochimaru's snake single-handedly? How in the world did he defeat that monster Gaara? How did his wounds heal so quickly? Why did everyone hate him so much before?

The last one made her think the hardest. Sakura could remember from a very small age that Naruto had always been picked on and bullied. She was always confused as to why all the adults... including her parents... would hate Naruto so much. She would ask sometimes, but she never got much of an answer... it was always something like 'don't you ever hang around with that boy' or 'just don't go near him.' Eventually she started to just accept it... there must be something wrong with him, everyone hated him. Even now, there were plenty of people who hated him... though he didn't seem to mind much. She couldn't help but notice all the hateful glares that he got as they would walk down the street to get a mission from the Hokage. She still couldn't see why, Naruto was annoying sometimes... loud, irritating, and loved to play pranks, but he wasn't somebody you could hate. Sakura had to admit, she had grown kind of fond of the noisy ninja over their time together. Sakura suspected that it had something to do with his weird powers... she would find out tomorrow... for right now, she was tired. Her eye-lids began to get heavy and as she drifted to sleep... instead of the haunting voice of Sasuke... her mind was filled with Naruto... questions about him, memories with him. Thoughts of Naruto dominated Sakura's mind for the first time in her life.

* * *

Sakura woke with a start as she heard a loud yell. She hopped out of the hospital bed immediately and ran to the source of the yell, which was in the hall outside of her room. As she opened the door, her worry fled her features and was instead replaced with a very strong desire to laugh. A huge smile came across her features as she saw Naruto hanging on to the door frame, an angry-looking Tsunade and Shizune tugging on his ankles.

"AHHH! LET GO OF ME YOU OLD HAG!" yelled Naruto, looking back at the two ladies tugging at him, "I'M NOT LEAVING UNTIL SAKURA-CHAN WAKES UP!"

Sakura blushed slightly at this and cleared her throat. Naruto blinked and turned around to face Sakura, his face brightened at the sight of her and he was so distracted that his grip loosened.

"Sakura-chan you--ACK!" yelled Naruto as he slingshotted into Tsunade and Shizune, slamming the three of them into the opposite wall, where they fell into a tangled heap of flesh.

Naruto's mouth was open and his eyes were spinning, dizzy from the sudden impact. His eyes quickly turned back to normal, however, as he looked up at Tsunade... who looked ready to burst a vein.

"NA...RU...TOO!" she yelled as she raised her fist to hit the boy.

Naruto yelped and jumped to his feet, watching as the ground where he was suddenly cracked, sending bits of tile flying. She was now trying to disentangle herself from Shizune, who was desperately yelling at Tsunade to calm down. Naruto didn't have a lot of time, he stared to the now laughing Sakura. He gave a small smile, seeing her laugh was good.

"HeySakura-chanI'mgladyou'reupbutIreallygottagonowI'llmeetupwithyoulaterbye!" he got out before he started to run. Just at that moment, Tsunade managed to disentangle herself from Shizune and it wasn't long before she was hot on his heels, followed by a dishevelled Shizune who was telling her to calm down.

Sakura held her side as she laughed, tears of mirth spilling down her cheeks. After a minute her laughter subsided as she grinned down the hallway where they had disappeared around the corner. She could hear their yells outside her window as she smiled. It was the first genuine smile she had had in a very long time. It seemed that she would have to wait a while for the answers to her questions, she would have to make sure Tsunade didn't pummel him to death first. With that, Sakura leapt out of the window to give chase to the trio.

* * *

Sakura and Naruto sat in the tree, panting for breath. They had finally escaped Tsunade by making distractions. Sakura had lead Naruto to where they had trained with Kakashi for the first time, both of them darting up a tree. Naruto created two shadow clones and had one of them transform into Sakura to throw off Tsunade.

"I'm saved!" panted Naruto, leaning back against the trunk of the tree, "thanks Sakura-chan... that old hag almost got me."

"What was she trying to do with you this morning anyway?" Sakura said, letting out a small giggle at the nickname Naruto had given Tsunade.

"Well..." said Naruto, thinking back to the incident, "I remember that I woke up and she was taking me out of the room, she said something about examining me for injuries and well... you were there for the rest."

"You caused all that commotion because Tsunade-sama was trying to give you a check up?" asked Sakura, laughing again at Naruto's antics, _"Some people just never change..."_ she mused internally.

"Um... Naruto... I was wondering about that technique you used... the Sakura Kekkai no Jutsu..." She asked, suddenly remembering her desire to know more of the boy, "I've never heard of love techniques before, did you make it?"

Naruto blushed a little bit, "Yeah... I've been working on it ever since we got back from our mission... that was the first time I've actually ever used any of my Hiden Aiton..." he explained, "I named that one technique the Sakura Kekkai because the little beads of chakra reminded me of cherry blossoms."

This was only a half truth. Although the Sakura Kekkai no Jutsu reminded him of cherry blossoms, it was mostly named out of his desire to protect Sakura, "I created loads of other techniques over the years too... and I named the set of them Hiden Aiton... because they're all meant to protect your friends and loved ones."

"I...see..." she said, blushing a little, _"Since when was I so nervous around Naruto, I mean he protected me and everything, but just as a friend... right? Why do I even care in the first place... I have..."_

She froze... who did she have? Sasuke? No... Sasuke wanted her dead. There was an empty void in her heart, a large void that Sasuke once filled. Something was missing in her life... and she wanted it back.

Naruto, noticing Sakura's odd quietness grew worried, "Sakura-chan...?" he inquired cautiously, bringing Sakura out of her silent reverie.

"Hm?" Sakura shook her head lightly to clear it of her sad thoughts, she didn't want to relive those hours anymore, "sorry..."

The normally noisy ninja grew quiet as he looked at Sakura. Something was wrong with her, that much was for sure. He looked down at the branch he was sitting on... tracing the lines in the bark with his eyes. He knew that she was thinking about last night... when Sasuke had shown up and tried to kill her. He had been shaken too, he just couldn't believe that Sasuke would do something like that. He could understand Sasuke trying to kill _him_... but trying to kill Sakura was going too far.

Meanwhile the girl was going through her own mental turmoil. She didn't want to think of Sasuke anymore... it brought too much pain to her already worn heart. Instead she focused her energies on the matter at hand, she still hand't found out much about Naruto. So again she avoided the matter of Sasuke... finding solace in Naruto. He was comforting her... though he didn't really know it... by occupying her mind with the mysteries he offered.

"Hey... Naruto..." came Sakura's voice... this time pulling _him_ out of _his_ thoughts. She smiled a little before continuing, "You know... we've been on Team 7 together for a really long time now... but we've never once trained together... maybe we can practice our techniques together... I can teach you how to control your chakra better... and... you can show me some of those Hiden Aiton moves..."

Naruto was shocked, looking at the girl in disbelief. His thoughts about Sasuke disappeared... here was the girl he had loved since as little as five years old, asking him if they could train together. His shocked look turned into a smile as he saw her smile. That smile of hers could completely dissolve any worry that he might have had. He gave a small nod.

"Sure! I gotta warn you though, you won't be able to do most of the Hiden Aiton. They're really difficult!" he said excitedly.

"That's fine, I just want to know what everyone on my team is capable of," she said, thinking up a quick excuse, "I don't really want to practice out in the hot sun though... let's go practice in your apartment... my parents well... to tell the truth they don't like _any_ boy my age..."

Naruto gave a small chuckle, "Alright then, I wouldn't want your parents going all ballistic on me like that old hag..." said the shinobi, having no idea that the true reason was, in fact, that her parents hated him for containing the Kyuubi, "ALRIGHT! Let's go!"

* * *

Sakura gasped as she looked up at the building. It was a mess. The wood was old, dirty, and extremely frail looking. She could spot a few holes on the roof and a few broken windows. Naruto didn't really seem to mind... why would he? He had lived here for all of his life. Naruto jumped up to one of the balconys, Sakura follwing absently, still trying to take this in. The orange-clad shinobi led her to one of the doors and produced a set of keys from his pocket.

_"How can he live in such a place? I mean... even as a Genin he should have enough for a nicer place..."_ she thought.

As Naruto unlocked his door, Sakura's eyes widened in suprise. Everything in the apartment was new... the floors, the walls, the cieling, the paint _on_ the walls and cieling. Also, she could see signs of a wall connecting to another apartment had been removed rather... forcefully, creating a pretty wide open area. The living room and dining room were connected, and both were quite spacious and comfortable... though there was only a table barely big enough for two people in the dining room. The only thing that seperated the small kitchen from the rest of the place was a small counter. All of the furniture was small and arranged in such a way that there was a large, bare area that dominated half of the room. It was spacious enough to practice some not-so-destructive taijutsu and ninjutsu... Naruto, of course, never really used much, if any, genjutsu. She could see that there was a door leading from the small training area to what she supposed was Naruto's room. The other thing that came as a huge suprise was just how messy it was. She could barely see the floor as it was covered in various ninja equipment, empty instant ramen cups, old milk containers, and articles of Naruto's clothing. Even though he had already made a mad dash to clean and was already almost halfway done... she couldn't help but note how messy Naruto was. She had heard that boys weren't the cleanest people to live around... but this was overkill!

"Hey Naruto?" she asked as she looked around the place. The messy part down, she was really wondering about this place, "how come your apartment is so much nicer than the building itself?"

Naruto picked up the last piece of trash, out of breath. It looked like he had actually used chakra in order to increase his speed of cleaning things up. He looked around his apartment and smiled.

"Oh, those are all kind of recent, ever since I became a Genin I started saving up money to replace everything. I even convinced the old landlord to let me expand this place by knocking down a wall" he explained, still grinning happily, "I actually just finished painting the other day."

"How in the world did you do all of this?" asked the pink-haired kunoichi, staring around in awe.. now that it was clean, she could really appreciate the beauty of the place, "It must have taken months to build!"

"Well I've had a lot of time," said Naruto, scratching the back of his head and grinning sheepishly, "I've been living here since I was born."

_"That's right..."_ thought Sakura, another pang of guilt rushing through her heart, _"He's been alone since birth... everyone hates him... but why?"_

"Well then... how about you show me some of the Hiden Aiton!" said Sakura with a little excitement... it was such a romantic name, and Naruto had said they were all centered around protecting people, namely friends and loved one, "start by showing me that one move... the Sakura Kekkai no Jutsu! It _does_ have my name on it after all."

_"That's because I named it after you..." _thought Naruto, blushing a little bit, "Alright then! Now watch carefully!"

Naruto's hands blurred... Sakura could barely make out the seals... Ryu, Usagi, Uma, Inu, Saru, Tori... his hands blurred through a few seals so fast she couldn't make them out... Tora, O-hitsuji, again his hands seemed to speed up, leaving her to guess what the rest of the seals were. Inu was the last seal... something kind of strange, most techniques that used hand seals usually ended with something like Tori or Tora.

"Hiden Aiton!" Naruto yelled, thrusting his hands out in either direction, "Sakura Kekkai no Jutsu!"

She could feel a small wind whirl around the boy for a moment, picking up some stray dust on the ground in a perfect circle around Naruto... then... nothing. Not even a glimmer of the dazzling cherry blossom petals. Sakura's head tilted in confusion as Naruto straightened his posture, crossing his arms. The corners of his mouth twisted upward in a small grin.

"Umm... nothing happened..." pointed out Sakura to the boy, "What happened to all the chakra blossoms?"

Naruto again smirked, "They won't show up until you attack..." the young ninja explained, "the Sakura Kekkai no Jutsu is based mainly on providing an invincible defense while using up little chakra. The beads of chakra appear when needed, and stay afterwards. The more a person attacks, the more chakra goes into the barrier. The barrier gets stronger and stronger while they wear themselves out, getting weaker and weaker. This defense comes at a price, though... even though I don't really control the barrier, it can only stay in one spot, and can't follow me around. I can get out if I really want to, but it'll continue to stay there, continuously draining my own chakra to provide the dual spin I told you about. As much as I try to concentrate on using as little chakra as possble... a barrier is still a barrier, and it still uses a lot of chakra."

Sakura was impressed... very impressed. The technique had it's own strengths and weaknesses... but the weaknesses were quite few... it was a technique just right for Naruto. He held so much chakra in that little body of his it was mind boggling, so it wasn't as if the barrier would collapse because of chakra overuse... and so what if it didn't move? If he wanted to concentrate on defense, he wouldn't be moving much anyway. Naruto had also said that he could get out of the barrier if he pleased... which meant that he could hole himself up inside of the barrier and throw kunai with explosive tags.

_"Well..." _thought Sakura, with a smirk, _"It seems he's come a long way from the Sexy no Jutsu..."_

There was one thing that bugged her though... one thing that she just couldn't figure out. She had never heard of a bloodline limit that gave someone two sources of chakra. She had never heard of anyone outside of Gaara who didn't have to control their defense either. Then again, she had never heard of any other "Uzumaki" outside of Naruto, either.

"Umm... Naruto... you said something about not controlling the barrier... and you also said that there were two source of chakra that flowed in opposite directions..." started Sakura, looking to the boy a little nervously... almost as if she really didn't want to know, "how is that possible? I mean I could understand dual chakra sources being some sort of bloodline limit... but it takes a lot of concentration to manipulate chakra. How do you maintain a barrier without concentrating on it? You said you don't even control it at all! So what does?"

_"Dammit! I slipped!" _thought the boy as he looked at the girl, "Umm... well... that is to say..."

_"Dammit... I can't let her know about the Kyuubi... not so soon after she accepts me as a friend..." _he thought as he began to sweat in nervousness, _"I can't let her know... I can't tell her... she can't know..."_

Sakura watched the boy curiously... he seemed shaken. He could see that he was nervous... really nervous... was it really that big of a deal about his dual sources of chakra? It wasn't like a demon was trapped inside of him like Gaara... no, Naruto was far different from Gaara, so why...?

"Naruto?" she asked, concern lacing her voice as she looked at him.

"Sakura-chan..." said Naruto as he looked to the ground, "don't think that I don't trust you... because I do... don't think that I don't like you or anything... but I can't tell you..."

He hoped that she would accept this and drop it. He was glad that she was suddenly so interested in him, after all these years of trying to capture her attention... but there were just some things that he couldn't tell the girl. Sakura, however, wasn't about to give up. She was determined to know about this boy... she wanted to know everything about Naruto. She couldn't understand why she wanted to... just that she did, and she would get answers.

"Naruto... we're teammates... I don't know why you're so shaken up about this but... I'm your friend, nothing that you tell me can change that. Absolutely nothing." she said, determination in her eyes. Whatever it was he wasn't telling her, she guessed it was because he was afraid to tell the truth, "Now tell me what's going on... what's so big and bad of a secret that you can't tell me...?"

The young demon-container looked into Sakura's eyes... and she couldn't help but feel that she was being gauged... measured to see if he could actually tell her. Her face was set in determination... she would not let his secret, whatever it may be, come between their friendship. Maybe he saw that... because after a long moment he sighed and began to unbutton his orange jacket.

"Naruto, what are you doing?" asked Sakura as he shrugged off the garment, leaving him in a black-teeshirt which he promptly pulled off, revealing a strong and fit body, causing Sakura to blush, _"that... outfit of his sure hides a lot..."_

For what seemed to be the millionth time within the past few days... a sharp pain of gult shot through her heart as her eyes fell on the scar on his chest... where he had recieved a blow from Sasuke's Chidori technique. She was the one who had caused that... she was the one who made him promise. Her mind desperately trying to get away from Sasuke, her eyes drifted to the small crystal that dangled on a lone black string... Tsunade had told her about that necklace and how she had given it to Naruto... but she had never actually seen it until now... it was beautiful.

"I really hope that you're right Sakura-chan..." he said as he brought his hands together, forming the O-hitsuji seal... the seal that he always used when concentrating chakra. She could almost feel the Sakura Kekkai fading from the room as he focused his chakra.

Sakura watched as he gathered chakra. Naruto's own chakra had become quite incredible... and he found that he needed to rely on the Kyuubi's powers less and less as his own chakra reserves grew. It wasn't this large amount of chakra that intrigued Sakura... she knew that he was incredibly powerful already. It was the mark that had appeared on his stomach that was disturbing her. It was a simple spiral, with many runes on the outer edges of it. She recognized right away that it was a seal... but for what?

"Naruto... what is--?"

Her inquiry was cut off however, as Naruto began to explain, "That seal..." he said slowly, deliberately, as if having second thoughts, "Is where _it_ is..."

"It...?" asked Sakura, cleary confused by his choice of words, "What's _it_?"

A sudden dread was starting to wash over Sakura. Just what in the world was that seal? What was it sealing? She remembered how Tsunade-sama had taught her about certain seals and how some ninja stored excess chakra in seals on her body. That couldn't be the case... was something _inside_ Naruto?

"There's..." said Naruto, pausing... he was struggling to get this out. He pulled on his shirt again, covering the dark seal... and pulled on his jacket, leaving it unbuttoned as he looked right into Sakura's emeraldine eyes.

"There's... a demon inside of me, Sakura-chan... a powerful, legendary demon..." he said grimly, looking to the floor, "Kyuubi is sealed inside of me..."

* * *

A/N: Again with the little twists and turns... again this chapter felt kind of weird, though more and more as I write this story, that seems to be a good thing. I don't know what you guys think... but I think I may be overdoing the plot-turns... going through them entirely too fast, you know? Anyway... my internet is going to be shut off within the next two weeks... so if I don't get another chapter up by Monday, don't expect one for a very long while. And for those of you who are questioning Sakura's behavior... about how she should be crying and blubbering about Sasuke... for the millionth time she's suffering from shock... she doesn't want to even think about Sasuke because it causes her far too much pain. I remember going through a traumatic experience when I was younger and I desperately tried to block it all out... it was just too much. That's what Sakura's going through. 


	6. Too Many Truths

A/N: Hello everyone! Because you all demeanded it, the next chapter is here earlier than expected! I had just intended to write the next chapter as soon as I got back. You will all get to see how Sakura reacts to Kyuubi being trapped inside Naruto... but first... I've got some more reviews to answer. First, and most importantly is to miscleafnin.

miscleafnin (and anyone else interested) - Leave your e-mail or something and I'll send my arguements to you, if you're still interested in them at all... I fear putting it hear would take up _way_ too much space and distract from the actual story... anyone interested in the debate, just post in your review that you want a copy... leave your e-mail, and I'll send a copy of my arguement to you. For those of you who don't even want to bother and just get on with the story... just keep reading, you'll get there soon enough. At any rate... until you prove without a doubt that what you say is true (I found a bunch of little loopholes in your arguements), Naruto's chakra in the valley of the end is the maximum amount of Kyuubi could pump out to Naruto. He can still gain even more chakra by boosting his own chakra reserves, though with Kyuubi's full support he has practically limitless chakra already.

kpxiceboi - Aww... I didn't do a good job on him revealing the secret? Damn... I'll just have to try harder _next time_... and ther _will_ be a next time (I plan to kick out many fics before my time as a writer comes). Also... although I appreciate it when people give me advice on the writing itself and how things could have been better... I have to warn you that I find it _incredibly_ irritating when people start telling me what I can and can't do when it comes to a story... so please, if it's not too much to ask... and this is for all you others out there too... don't tell me where _my_ story should go!

gonekrazy3000 - Give yourself a pat on the back! Because _you_ requested it... I'll be doing his chapter earlier than I inteneded. . Also, I really don't know how long I'll be gone... Hell, it's possible I may not ever return to the world of the net. Chances are, I'll be gone a month at longest and a week at shortest. As much as it's possible that I may not ever return to the net... it's also just as much possible that I get my internet back in just a few days... and even if that _is_ the case... I'll probably find some way to post my stories anyhow!

The End of Infinity - Thanks, I try to keep everyone as in-character as possible. It's kind of difficult to do so, however, when I want to push Sakura and Naruto together... there has to be a _little_ bit of OOC to push them in the right direction... from there it becomes a matter of reactions and there doesn't need to be a whole lot of OOC.

Everyone Else - Thanks so much for reviewing! I really appreciate it, no matter if they're arguements or just words of support... each review is _deeply_ appreciated.

Also, I've never so much as seen mention of Sakura's father in the anime... so I apologize ahead of time if he _does_ make an appearance somewhere in the manga or something. As far as I know, however, he's either not there, dead, or somewhere between those two.

* * *

**Promise of a Lifetime**  
** Chapter 6: Too Many Truths**

_"Kyuubi is sealed inside me..."_

The words echoed in her head over and over again. It was unthinkable, unfathomable. The boy that stood in front of her was really the legendary demon of old...? The demon that had taken thousands of lives... the world's first _living_ natural disaster?

_"NO!" _thought Sakura vehemently, _"He's not Kyuubi! He's not that stupid nine-tailed fox! There's just no way..."_

The more she denied it, however... the more it made sense. Naruto had always had enormous reserves of chakra, it baffled her how someone so small could hold so much chakra. Their first mission to the Wave Country... when Naruto had stabbed his own hand to let the poisoned blood leak out... she thought she imagined it, but when Naruto held out his hand to Kakashi... she thought she saw the wound healing right before her eyes. Later, in that very same mission... she had been too wrecked up over Sasuke's apparent death to notice... but as they returned home, she began to wonder... Naruto was still alive while Sasuke was dead... how did he survive? Sasuke protected Naruto... but it would have only taken another second or two to kill Naruto, and when she had gotten there it seemed that Sasuke had been lying there for a while, judging from the small pool of blood around him. Then there was the incident with their first encounter with Orochimaru... using nothing but two kunai and his body, he had stopped a snake at least a thousand times his size. There was also Gaara... she had heard later about Gaara and the Shukaku locked inside of him. It would have been impossible for Naruto to take on a greater demon on his own. Every time her mind tried to deny that Naruto was, indeed, the Kyuubi... that same mind pulled up a reason as to why he _was_ the demon fox.

_"No..."_ Sakura thought finally, _"He's not Kyuubi... he's just the _container_ for Kyuubi... he's not the nine tails, but can use it's power.'_

That thought frightened her... it scared her to no end what would happen if Kyuubi got loose from Naruto. What if he became Kyuubi? What if Kyuubi could break free from the seal? It would be the end of the ninja world. Naruto had apparently seen the frightened look that crossed her features, because he frowned.

"I guess you hate me now too..." he said with a little more sorrow than he intended, and turned around to the door to his room... he didn't need this... he couldn't take this. Sakura hated him now... it was just as he feared.

Sakura was taken aback as a sudden realization struck her. The reason all the adults hated Naruto wasn't because he had been weak or loved to play pranks. It was because sealed inside him was the most powerful and evil beast imaginable. It was cruel... he never asked for it... she doubted he ever enjoyed the fact that such an evil creature was locked inside of him... and he was hated because of it.

"How long...?" Sakura found herself asking, "How long did you know about this...?"

Naruto stopped, just a few steps from his bedroom door. He didn't bother to turn around and face her, too frightened at what he would see in her eyes. Both of her parents had fought against Kyuubi and her father was still in a coma, off in some foreign land for advanced medical treatments. Sakura, however, wasn't even thinking about her father at the moment... nor was she thinking about anything but the boy standing in front of him, she was worried for him.

"The day before team 7 was formed" said Naruto, "Mizuki was trying to kill me because of it... he told me that it was taboo for anyone to speak of it... everyone was trying to keep it a secret. I was told that the Fourth Hokage sealed Kyuubi inside of me when I was born."

_"He didn't know until then...? That's... horrible... people hated him and he didn't even know the reason why..." _thought Sakura, tears beginning to come to her eyes, _"No parents... no friends... not even a decent place to live... how did he survive this long...?"_

Her frown deepened. She couldn't even _begin_ to think of how horrible it must have been for Naruto as he grew up. She had been part of that pain, she realized as the now very familiar arrow of guilt hit it's mark, shooting through her already wounded heart. She had made fun of him, hated him, treated him awefully.

_"What kind of person am I...?" _she thought as tears began to spill down her cheeks.

A new respect for the boy filled her. It wasn't the type of respect that the rescued gave the rescuer... it was much deeper than that. He was strong... incredibly strong. She remembered how Kakashi later filled her in on the story behind Gaara of the Desert, how he also had a demon locked inside of him. The people all hated him, everyone detested his very existance because of how he was created... what was locked inside of him. He had gone insane from it all. It was amazing how two people with the same dillema could end up so different.

Naruto... he never let the pressure get to him... he never gave up hope and knew that his existance was somehow valuable. Gaara... well, the only way he could find himself valuable was to kill.

"Naruto..." she began, not knowing what to say for a moment. What _could_ she say? There was a demon locked up inside of him, he had been hated and despised his whole life, and she hadn't exactly helped in that matter. So what could she do?

"Naruto I..." she began uncertainly, then suddenly she realized something... she didn't really care if the Kyuubi was trapped inside of him. She could care less if Naruto was the overpowered demon itself... Naruto was Naruto... he wasn't evil and that's all she needed to know.

"If you think a little thing like some legendary demon trapped in your navel will get you away from me..." she said in mock irritation, her lips curved upwards in a smile as she crossed her arms, "you've got another thing coming."

Naruto's eyes widened as he turned to look at her. Sakura didn't hate him? Much more, Sakura didn't want to run away or leave? She didn't want to destroy him or run off and request a team-transfer?

"Sakura-chan...?"

"You've made a promise to me, Uzumaki Naruto... and I don't intend to let you off the hook _that_ easily!" she said with a small smile. Though inside, she wondered whether she would really want Sasuke back now. He was mad for power... so mad for it that he had attempted to kill _her_... who had done nothing but love him.

Naruto was stung internally at the memory of the promise, but he grinned none the less, giving an nod of his head. He was ecstatic!

"I'll definitely keep my promise to you, Sakura-chan!" said Naruto, "but first... why don't we finish up our training here!"

* * *

Sakura lay on the training pad, flat on her back, panting heavily. It hurt to so much as lift her pinky finger after their rather intense training session. Naruto refused to show her any more of the ninjutsu of the Hiden Aiton, saying that he didn't like to bug the Kyuubi too much.

_"It has a short temper, after all..."_ she remembered Naruto saying. She still wasn't used to him talking about the Kyuubi openly, and every time he referred to it, a shiver shot down her spine.

He did, however, show her the taijutsu of the Hiden Aiton. Shugoken (Guardian Fist) was all about, of course, protection and counter attacks... and it worked! To prove his point, he had taken a cup of ramen and placed it on the middle of the mat and took his stance before it. The stance called for two kunai, both of which were dull wooden replicas for the sparring session, which were both held in reverse grip (blade to ground). Instead of holding them in front of himself, however, he held his arms wide open and crouched slightly, his leg muscles coiled and ready to move at a moments notice. He called for her to attack and she did without hesitation.

_Flashback_

"Come.." said Naruto, holding out his Kunai as wide as his arms would stretch, leaving him wide open for any type of attack, or so Sakura thought.

Sakura nodded and began to run for Naruto. Her objective was to hit the ramen cup, not Naruto. She threw a fake kunai directly at Naruto's chest and jumped into the air, her feet latching onto Naruto's cieling as she threw a second kunai at the ramen cup. Naruto spun, striking the first kunai with the kunai in his left hand so that it clattered away harmlessly. The second kunai was deflected by the kunai in Naruto's right hand.

Sakura had already moved to jump behind Naruto and threw a jab at Naruto's back. She needed to take care of the guardian before the guarded could be attacked. Her hand was knocked away, however as he completed the spin and slashed at her hand with the wooden kunai. Expecting this, she threw another punch straight for Naruto's face. Sakura was suprised, however, when Naruto merely shifted his head so that her fist hit his forehead protector... he didn't budge an inch. Sakura let out a grunt as Naruto simply raised his wooden kunai, slicing at her arms before spinning around planting a firm kick to Sakura's stomach, sending her flying back a few feet. Sakura skidded to a halt on the mat, holding her stomach.

"Had these been real kunai, you wouldn't be able to use your arms right now..." he explained as he resumed his stance, "this style isn't about avoiding damage to yourself, it's about protecting. I may have taken a little damage, but what I'm protecting hasn't been harmed yet... and I incapacitated you as well, eliminating you as a threat."

Sakura smirked, "I see... so this style is about ignoring self preservation to catch the enemy off guard and disabling them..."

"Bingo." said the orange-clad ninja with a sly grin, "Now come!"

_End Flashback_

Sakura turned her head to look at Naruto, still guarding vigilently. There were a few bruises over his body and a thin line of blood had dried on his forehead, just below the place where Sakura had punched. She had tried some genjutsu and ninjutsu, and there were a few scorch marks on the blue mat where she had used some watered down explosive tags. The small ramen cup had yet to so much as budge yet and Naruto... he wasn't anywhere close to the level of exhaustion she was at. Sure he had taken damage, but he hadn't moved more than a foot from his current spot, conserving a lot of energy.

The blonde shinobi fell out of his stance and grinned at her. She was entirely exhausted... and even though Naruto had practically given her the perfect opportunity to strike... she was far too tired to even consider it. Instead, she pushed herself to her feet and smiled back at him.

"Al...right..." she said between gasps for breath, "y-you...win..."

"Alright! Let's take a break then, we can go and grab some ramen, my treat!"

Sakura giggled lightly, her breath finally coming back to her, "Careful Naruto... Hinata might think we're dating or something if she sees us."

"She wouldn't mind," said Naruto, earning a suprised look from Sakura, "I really like Hinata, I do... but I just can't see her as a girlfriend or something like that..."

Sakura's eyes widened... what was Naruto saying...? Wasn't Hinata the girl rejected him? The one he was as shaken up over as she was of Sasuke? So why... why was _he_ the one to reject _her_ this time? She didn't sense any hint of a lie from Naruto. Despite Naruto being a ninja, a master in the art of deception, Naruto could never tell a good lie. Unless...

_"Hinata... lied to me..." _she came to the conclusion.

_"THAT LYING, DECIEVING, LITTLE WENCH!" _yelled Inner Sakura, outraged.

As much as her inner-self's choice of words apalled her, Sakura _did_ feel betrayed. She had never done anything to warrant such a huge lie out of Hinata... she had even trusted her. She made it obvious that she wanted to repay Naruto, that she wanted to do some good. Sakura had been very depressed about the matter... so why would Hinata, such a kind and considerate girl, betray her like that? Why would Hinata lie to her? She needed to talk to a certain indigo-haired girl.

"Sorry, Naruto... but I can't today, I needed to go talk to someone today, and I should really get around to it before it gets dark!" she said, an apologetic look on her face, "maybe next time, okay?"

"Sakura-cha--!"

He didn't get a chance to say anymore as Sakura dashed out of his open window, running along the rooftops towards the Hyuuga settlement. She needed to get to the bottom of this.

* * *

"Why did you lie to me, Hinata...?" the pink-haired kunoichi asked, "how come you said that you were the one that left Naruto?"

Hinata frowned. She had been training her Juuken when Sakura came up, saying that they needed to talk with each other. She had no idea then that Sakura had found out... so she invited Sakura to sit with her where she, Neji, and her father usually sat after a hard day of training.

"I'm sorry, Sakura-san... I... I just had to know..." she said, looking down to the ground in shame, "I had to know where I stood with Naruto-kun..."

"Where you stood...?" asked Sakura, confused. Her initial feeling of betrayal fled... replaced by curiosity, "What do you mean...?"

"I... I..." started Hinata, blushing slightly as she gathered her courage, "I've always... liked... Naruto-kun... he's kind, sweet, and funny... but I never really knew... what he thought of me. I didn't want to know... I was too scared to approach him. Then, when you came... I saw my chance to find out... and... I'm sorry for decieving you..."

Sakura wasn't very suprised, to tell the truth. She had always known, along with everyone save for the boy in question, that Hinata had a crush on Naruto. She didn't know that it was this serious, however. Sakura didn't feel betrayed anymore... she understood exactly what Hinata was going through. She had often wondered the same thing about Sasuke... where she stood with him, that is.

"I see... and he rejected you didn't he?"

"Yes..." said Hinata with a small nod, "but I'm not sad about it... Naruto-kun and I are still friends. I'm happy that I can be there for him..."

Sakura looked at Hinata, a small smile playing across her lips, "You... really love him, huh?" she asked.

"Yes..." said the blue-haired girl with a small nod and a furious blush, "but it's useless trying to be with him... I realize that now... Naruto-kun loves only one person in all the world, and even if he can never have her, I know that he'll never fall for another girl... and maybe that's part of the reason I love him... so as long as I can be close to him... I am content."

Sakura was speechless... the girl in front of her was absolutely content that she would never be able to attain the one she loved. It was... heart-shattering. She would live on knowing that the one she loves most would only view her as a friend... she would live on knowing that he would never return the affections she had for him. Sakura knew all too well what that was like. The one _she_ loved wanted to kill her and would definitely not return her affections. Again, her mind seemed to cut off the thoughts of Sasuke almost as immediately as they came. She didn't want to think about him... she _couldn't_ think about him.

"So you're not the one who broke Naruto's heart... but from what you said... you know who did..." the crimson-clad kunoichi pointed out, "I made a promise to myself that I would find her and drag her back to Naruto, kicking and screaming if I needed to... and I don't intend to go back on my word. So spill. Who is it that Naruto loves?"

Hinata was cornered. She stared at Sakura wide-eyed... knowing that she had slipped and she couldn't avoid this forever. Sakura had a determined look on her face... the same kind of look that Naruto got whenever he said that he definitely would not lose. Sakura was going to get it out of her no matter what, and the blue-haired girl knew it. Hinata sighed, looking down at the ground as she pulled her knees to her chest... this was going to be difficult.

"I... didn't want to tell you... because I wanted you to find out by yourself but... it doesn't look like you'll give up..." she paused, wanting more than anything else for her to say 'nevermind, I don't want to know...' but it never came, "Sakura-san... the one that Naruto-kun loves... more than anyone in the world... the one who he constantly puts his life on the line for even though she was always cold towards him... the one who he has acknowledged he has absolutely no hope with..."

Again she paused while Sakura waited... outraged at this person, whoever she was. It seemed that Naruto was deeply in love with her. What kind of cold hearted woman would turn away such obvious affections? What kind of mean little girl would do that to Naruto, who she now saw through deeply respectful eyes. He, more than anyone... even Sasuke... deserved to be happy. She would bring the one he loved back to him... but not before giving her a sound punch to the jaw for doing such aweful things to Naruto. Whoever she was... she deserved it.

"... is you."

* * *

A/N: So what do you think? This'll probably be my last chapter for a while to come... so I hope you enjoy it... I think it's kind of mediocre though. I had a hard time playing Hinata, and something about Naruto didn't feel quite right. Oh well, you be the judge! I await your (hopefully) helpful verdicts! I wonder if anyone will notice the small change to a certain character that I _intentionally_ put in here.  



	7. Hand in Hand

A/N: I'm baaaaack! That's right... the long wait is over... cryogenesis has returned and he's got yet _another_ chapter for you all! To all of you who decided to ride it out and see this chapter, thank you! It means a lot to me that _anyone_ would value my writing that much. So I was only gone a week -shrugs- better for the readers of this story though, hm?

PuckReathof - Yes... yes I am... MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!

madnarutofan - I made no notion of making 3-4 more chapters... so I have one thing to say: WHO RATTED ME OUT, HM! Heh, just kidding. Perceptive of you to notice that by the length of my chapters and all the questions and crap that's going on... I wouldn't be able to finish in even _10_ more chapters... nope, this fic is gonna be a doozy of a story!

Amanda-san - The cliffhangers are just too fun to give up! They keep the readers hooked, after all:p

Shorn-Hair - You know... even though you don't question why you read it... I _constantly_ question why I write it oo;.

Everyone Else - Thanks for your fantastic and supportive reviews! I hope that I can hold all of your interests for however long this fic will be going on!

* * *

**Promise of a Lifetime  
Chapter 7: Hand in Hand**

"Dammit..." thought the blonde haired kid as he walked down the streets of Konoha, arms tucked behind his head, "I wanted to tell her about the trip over lunch... where is she?"

The young shinobi frowned, he had been putting it off for some time. He didn't want her to face the prospect of being completely alone until she had calmed down over Sasuke's betrayal. In fact, he had planned to leave earlier, but Sasuke's attack on Konoha to try and assassinate Sakura didn't necessarily help her come to terms about Sasuke. However, he couldn't stay with Sakura and keep his promise at the same time... he would have to train, and judging by the way Sakura had been acting lately... he was pretty sure that he could leave her alone for two and a half years.

"Yo... Naruto..." came a familiar, lazy voice that broke him out of his thoughts.

The shinobi in question turned to face the mellow jounin who, as usual, was leaning back, flipping casually through a copy of Come Come Paradise. The blonde boy grinned, it had been a while since he had seen his would-be instructor.

"Kakashi-sensei!" greeted Naruto, "I haven't seen you in a long time! What were you doing?"

"Hokage-sama's been keeping me occupied..." he explained casually as he flipped his book closed, shoving both his hands into his pockets, "I wanted to talk to you, Naruto... but not here, come, I'll buy you some ramen..."

* * *

"Another bowl!" yelled Naruto, holding up his 10th empty bowl. Kakashi himself was only working on his second... starting to regret that he suggested ramen, of all things. It wasn't like he didn't have the money to afford it... but it would cut into his Come Come Paradise funds at this rate.

"Naruto..." began Kakashi as Naruto continued to eat at a rapid pace, "I heard from Jiraiya about your training trip... you're supposed to be leaving this Saturday, however... I have recently recieved a mission that calls for your abilities... namely, this new Hiden Aiton you've been working on..."

Naruto choked on some ramen he was swallowing. The old, wisened ramen chef seemed quite used to this and brought him a large glass of water, which Naruto immediately chugged down as fast as he could, flooding out the obstruction in his throat. After gasping for air for a few seconds, he turned his attention back to Kakashi.

"Y-you know about the Hiden Aiton?" asked Naruto incredulously, "b-but how! I was training in secret in the _last_ place someone would look!"

"Naruto, really... with the amount of dangerous creatures in the Death Forest... do you really think that Konoha would just set up a fence around it and call it quits? There are a number of ninjas, and sometimes even ANBU that patrol the borders of the forest to make sure nothing gets out... you're lucky only one person managed to stumble onto you..." explained Kakashi, "and even more lucky that that person was me."

"You...?" asked Naruto, slightly confused, "What were _you _doing there? I thought that old hag was giving you _S_-Rank missions..."

"She was... but there are only so many S-Rank missions... every once in a while I have to go on guard duty... and it just so _happened_ that I found you training." said the silver-haired jounin as Naruto continued eating, "I used my Sharingan to analyze the Hiden Aiton... and unfortunately I can't copy those abilities... you're the only one capable of doing _any_ of those techniques beyond the taijutsu of the style... which is why I'm asking for your help before you leave... on an S-Class mission..."

The noisy ninja had just set down his bowl... and he froze. Kakashi... the legendary "Copy Ninja" wanted _him_ of all people... to assist him on an S-Class mission. He stared into the empty white bowl... thinking hard as Kakashi awaited a reply. It was a chance to prove himself... if he could accomplish an S-Class mission as a Genin, it would prove his worth. His dream of one day being Hokage suddenly didn't seem very far off. Finally, the orange-clad boy turned in his seat to face Kakashi. Gone was the childish innocence that he was so well-known for, instead a serious look on the boy's face.

"Give me the details..."

* * *

"The one that Naruto-kun loves... more than anyone in the world... the one who he constantly puts his life on the line for... the one who he has acknowledged he has absolutely no hope with...is you."

Those two words struck her heart like lightning. No.. maybe she was hearing wrong, maybe there was a girl named Yuu somewhere Konoha... maybe... but no matter how much she tried to deny it, it suddenly dawned on her that Hinata was right. All those times he kept trying to cheer her up... all those times that he looked out for her... all the times he had bothered her about her love life. Yes... Naruto loved her.

_"No..." _she thought, all the pent up shock from her close encounter setting in as she realized that it was true.

The kunoichi fell to her knees, as if struck by a thrown shuriken. Her eyes wide... she had made heated promises to herself that she would bring back Naruto's girl, the pink-haired girl had promised herself to smack the girl. The fact that it was her completely blew her away... but she knew it to be true. The pink-haired kunoichi stared at the ground hard... as if it could give her all the answers. Her heart hurt... she thought that Naruto deserved to be happy... much more than Sasuke did, she believed that... but what about her? Sasuke... well, she wasn't quite ready to let the boy go... she wasn't ready to fully accept that he was a traitor... besides.. Naruto had promised her that he would bring the boy back... and she knew that he would never go back on a promise like that.

_"Leave it to stay attatched to a guy who wants to kill me!" _Inner Sakura chimed, slightly annoyed, _"I'm really an idiot, aren't I!"_

"Sakura-san... Naruto-kun has always loved you from the start... he says he wants to be Hokage... to look after everyone in Konoha and that's true... but he cares for _you_ the most" explained Hinata, a slightly sad look in her eyes, "He may not always act like it... he may even irritate you at times... but truly... he'd do anything for you. He'd kill himself if he thought it would make you truly happy... and worse... he'd even give up his dream of being Hokage... if it would give you happiness."

"No..." said Sakura shakily, trying to deny what she had already seen as a fact... "You don't know that! He'd never give up his dreams for me! He wouldn't give up his dreams for _anyone_! Naruto cares about me, I know that much... but I don't think that--"

"Sakura-san... I've been watching Naruto-kun almost since he entered the academy..." said Hinata, a slightly irritated look that didn't really fit her kind and shy nature dominating her features. She lifted a hand from her side and pointed at one of her milky white, pupil-less eyes, "These eyes... know Naruto... I've looked deeper into Naruto than anyone has ever bothered too... I know what he feels inside... I can see the way he looks at you...! the way he's always between you and danger in one way or another..! the way that he irritates you so you have a vent for your angers and frustrations! He's done so much more for you than you know, and I've seen it all with these eyes! Even if you never love him back, even if you go and get married to that _traitor_ Sasuke, he'll _never_ stop loving you! He'll NEVER STOP CARING FOR YOU! HE LOVES YOU MORE THAN ANYTHING!"

Sakura was taken aback... she had never seen Hinata let out so much anger before... she had never even heard the girl raise her voice. Yet here she was, yelling loud enough to put Ino and herself to shame, with enough rage in her eyes to make Kakashi wet his pants. Hinata had just called Sasuke a traitor as well... but for once, just this once... she let it go. She closed her eyes to escape the image of the usually timid girl who was now furious. Instead she imagined Naruto, remembering the things he had done for her. One memory in particular stuck out in her mind... that day...

_"You... really love him, huh?" ... "I can understand... very well the pain that you're going through right now..."_

It was the only day that she had heard true pain and sadness in the boy's voice... the only day she could see true sorrow in the very way he moved. She realized now what she had made him do that day... it was her that had caused that pain. It wasn't what she thought... he never lost the girl that he loved. He had done much worse... the very thought tearing what remained of Sakura to pieces. For the first time since Sasuke had left them... Sakura broke down into tears. She cried hard... it was too much. Sasuke's betrayal and her questionable love with him... Naruto's harsh childhood... his love for her... and now this. Naruto had made a grave sacrifice... that day he didn't just make a promise to her... he made a promise to himself. He had promised himself to stay out of the way when it came between her and Sasuke... he had given up chasing her for her sake.

The sight of one of the strongest girls she had ever seen breaking down into tears shook Hinata from her warpath... the anger left her eyes, replaced with worry, regret, as well as the natural timidness she was so well known for. She frowned and place dher arms around her fellow kunoichi.

"I-I'm sorry... I sh-shouldn't have b-blown up like t-that..." she stuttered frantically as she attempted to comfort the girl.

Sakura didn't say anything. She just continued to cry into Hinata's shoulder. How could he bare it...? How could he stand to live at all...? How could he possibly so much as smile with all that had happened to him, all that he was going through? Most of all... she wondered how she could have made him make that despicable promise... that damned promise that made Naruto's smile, that perfectly happy smile so bittersweet.

_"I can understand... very well the pain that you're going through right now..."_

_"No Naruto... the pain that you went through... that you're going through..." _thought the kunoichi at the memory of those words, _"Is much worse..."_

* * *

"So you took the assignment..."

"Yeah, I figured I could use a little excersize after all that down-time!" came Naruto's reply, "besides, I can barely keep myself alive on half pay, I could use the cash boost from an S---"

"This _isn't_ a light matter Naruto!" Tsunade snapped, staring at the boy in front of her desk, "This is a _real_ S-Class mission... it's intended to be S-Class and can only get far worse."

"She's right, Naruto... you can't take this lightly. I may go out on these kind of missions alone a lot of the time, but you're still inexperienced in the matter... I can't guarantee your survival on this one, so you can't _afford_ to take this lightly..." added in Kakashi, who was leaning on the wall, arms crossed, next to the door, "You have to be alert, your reactions have to be sharp, and you can't pick a fight with everyone that gets in your way... you have to remember that this is an _extraction_ mission... it's not your job to beat every bad guy, it's to get everyone out."

Naruto looked to the ground, thinking over Tsunade and Kakashi's words. He had gotten into S-Class situations before, once with Jiraiya and Sakura to go find Sasuke... and once with all of Team 7 on their first mission. Tsunade was right... their original mission for his first S-Class was C-Class, and because one of the legendary Sannin was on the second S-Class, the threat was reduced to about the level of a B-Class, which Naruto could handle fairly well at his level. This, however... was a _planned_ S-Class mission, and this time he would only have Kakashi for backup, and from what he had head, the legendary Copy Ninja wouldn't be able to assist him through over half the mission.

"I understand..." said the boy after a long while, with a much calmer attitude than his usual perky self, "I'll carry out the extraction mission to the best of my ability... no fooling around."

Tsunade's eyes pierced into Naruto's... as if sizing the boy up. As hard as she looked, she couldn't find any hint of childishness in those steely blue orbs. There was no naivete in them at all.

_"Yes..."_ thought the lady of the Sannin, _"You're ready for this... there's no doubt... just come back alive Naruto."_

"There will be one more person coming with you on this mission, her abilities will blend perfectly with yours. Kakashi has told me about this Hiden Aiton of yours-- no details of course -- but I understand that the taijutsu of the Hiden Aiton requires... a lot of self-sacrifice... you'll need a medi-nin to compensate for this."

"So who are you sending with us, Tsuande-baachan?"

"Haruno Sakura..." came the reply from Kakashi, who had pushed off the wall and stood by the opened door, "We should go tell her now, it's getting dark and I want to set out tomorrow..."

* * *

She pulled her legs to her chest, huddled in the corner of her room. After affirming Hinata that she would be all right... Sakura had returned to her home. She had told her mother that she felt ill and was going to rest in her room until it passed. It was getting dark, and everywhere in Konoha people were turning out their lights and blowing out their candles. It vaguely amused the kunoichi as to how everyone could go one living such peaceful lives after Sasuke had attacked. Sasuke... the very thought of him was enough to make her blood boil. Not because he had tried to kill her, but because it reminded her of the promise she had made Naruto make.

_"Naruto's life is so hard... a lot of people hate him... for something he can't control. He was always alone... kind of like Sasuke..." _thought Sakura... but her fury rose at that, _"No... it's different... Sasuke lost all of his family, but everyone loved him and praised him... he _chose_ to be alone... Sasuke... Sasuke's a jerk!"_

She sat bolt upright as she realized that she was angry with Sasuke too. She was so angry with him that she couldn't even _force_ herself to add the usual -kun to the end of his name... even in her thoughts. How dare he! How dare he treat Naruto like dirt when he was never really alone, when everyone cared for him?

_"Like you're one to talk!" _threw in Inner Sakura, _"You didn't treat him any better, dammit!"_

Sakura closed her eyes as she fought back the tears. She was tired of crying... she didn't want to cry anymore, but her inner self had hit a nerve. She was right... Sakura hadn't started treating Naruto with any respect at all until he had made that promise. She had hated him, despised his very presence. What Hinata said came rushing back to her.

_"...he irritates you so you have a vent for your angers and frustrations!..."_

The timid shinobi was right. Whenever she was feeling generally upset, or after something serious happened and she got lost in thought. He was always there... he was always smiling and laughing and goading her into irritation so that she could vent... another sacrifice for her.

_"...He's done so much more for you than you know!..."_

Again she was right. Until now she had no idea the amount of sacrifices beyond physical damage that Naruto made for her, had _always_ made for her. She could feel thoughts of Sasuke fleeing from her mind... replaced by thoughts of Naruto. The would-be Hokage wasn't perfect... not by a long shot. He could be slow sometimes and maybe a little irritating, not to mention noisy, but he was strong, with a will of diamond. He was funny too, half the time she was laughing inside when he did something. These days she often wondered how much of his incompetence was intentional... none of it existed when it mattered most.

She realized just how much she had become attatched to the blue-eyed boy. Sasuke left... and she had broken down into tears. If Naruto left in his place... she wouldn't be able to face it. The very thought of Naruto leaving her at all frightened the pink-haired shinobi. What would she do if she lost Naruto too? She wouldn't be able to go on living. Losing Sasuke she could deal with... he had never been kind to her... always been cold towards _everyone_. Naruto, though... Naruto was different. Naruto had always been kind to her, had always been there for her, protected her, sacrificed for her, loved her.

The girl was pulled out of her thoughts when she heard a soft rapping on her window. Quickly the girl dried her tears on her arm and stood. She was sitting half behind her dresser so that only her feet could be seen from the window. She smiled as she saw who it was. It was the very boy who had penetrated her thoughts so deeply... along with her lazy jounin instructor. The kunoichi opened the window.

"Yo..."

"Hey Sakura-chan!"

Sakura gave a small nod, "Hello, what are you two doing here at this time?"

The sun had just barely set... casting the sky in a purplish orange haze. It was only around 6:30 PM, but it was unusual for people to be visiting so unexpectedly at this hour. Usually one would just wait until the next day. It could only mean that a mission had been assigned.

"We've been assigned a mission..." replied Kakashi, confirming Sakura's suspicions, "We'll meet tomorrow on the bridge at 7:00 AM sharp... I'll explain the details then."

Without another moment to spare, Kakashi hopped off across the rooftops at warp speed. Sakura's eyes followed the silver-haired jounin for a little while as he shrank into the distance, wondering what kind of mission they would be going on and even more so what rank it was, before lowering her eyes to a familiar set of deep blue. The orange-clad shinobi gave a smile as their eyes met... that same fake, bittersweet smile that annoyed the pink-haired kunoichi to no end.

_"Dammit Naruto!" _her inner voice screamed as she remembered that _she_ was the one who made that smile, _"quit doing that!"_

The boy turned away from Sakura and tensed his legs to jump away as well. It was getting dark, and if there was going to be a mission tomorrow he would need his rest in order to be in good shape. He lowered himself, his legs compressing like a spring, and he was about ready to kick off of her roof when he felt a small, light hand on his shoulder, restraining him. He turned, tracing that small girlish hand up to it's owner with a confused look.

"Sakura-chan...?" he asked uncertainly.

Inside, he was frightened. Chances were that she wanted to talk about Sasuke again, and he didn't know if he could handle the strain this time. Naruto accepted that he would never have a chance with Sakura... she was in love with Sasuke... and that was that. Still, his heart needed time to heal... he needed time to rest and pick up the pieces of his shattered heart.

"Hey... Naruto..." started Sakura tentatively, looking more at the ground than at him.

The said boy steeled himself for more abuse to his battered heart and soul... he was tired and wanted to rest... but Sakura, now more than ever... needed somebody to be there for her, a pillar of support that she could lean on until this whole mess blew over. So he braced himself for the inevitable.

"Umm... I haven't eaten since breakfast... and I'm kind of hungry so I was wondering if we could go and get something to eat together?" she asked a little uncertainly before adding a quick, "just as friends of course!"

_"He... does deserve a chance but... I don't think I can let go of Sasuke yet... not just yet..." _she thought to herself, _"so this is the best I can do for now..."_

She made a pact with herself that she wouldn't talk about Sasuke or the new mission or anything depressing at all. Even if she had to force herself to, she would have fun with Naruto. She would make _sure_ that she enjoyed her time with him.

Naruto froze completely. He could have sworn his heart stopped beating and his lungs quit pumping for a few seconds. He always wanted, more than _anything_, just to go out with Sakura... it didn't matter if it was just as friends, Naruto could pretend it was real at the very least. He frowned on the inside... this wasn't a good time... their conversations would ultimately end up being about Sasuke and this new mission that Kakashi assigned them.

_"It will hurt later..."_ thought the boy, _"but I... just once want to know..."_

After another minute or so, Naruto's muscles relaxed and he turned around to face the pink-haired kunoichi. He smiled, much to Sakura's suprise and pleasure, a real smile, one of his genuine grins as he held out his hand for her to take.

"I know a great sushi place not too far form here..." he said casually, bearing no hint of the sorrow that was once there "but they close in about 20 minutes so we'd better hurry."

The pink-haired girl smiled and took Naruto's hand. His touch electrified her... sent shivers down her spine and almost made her jump. Then, as she was pulled out of her own bedroom window, an odd feeling washed over her. This felt... right, like it was _supposed_ to be this way. The two of them jumped from her rooftop and began to walk casually down the path, completely unaware that they were still holding hands. They were talking now, happy little nothings that had nothing to do with the upcoming mission from Kakashi or even the dark Uchiha boy. Sakura no longer felt that she might have to force herself have fun with Naruto... it was an incredible thing... she couldn't be depressed right now if she tried.

Naruto made a joke, an impression of Jiraiya getting caught peeping at Tsunade. Sakura laughed... the first _real_ laugh she had had in a long time... and Naruto laughed with her. Everything felt right... gone were their worries, their fears, their depressions. There was no looming threat over the horizon for them, it was just another day for them to enjoy... just another time to cherish. The two of them were in their own little world where everything was alright and nothing wrong ever happened as they walked down the streets of Konoha... hand-in-hand.

* * *

A/N: Gah! This didn't come out how I wanted it too, _and_ it feels short and kind of rushed. I got all the points I wanted to cover covered... and the message that 'this isn't over' is hanging in the air due to the S-Class extraction mission posed by Kakashi. It's just... well, I had another version of the ending of this chapter typed up and I liked it very much but my electricity cut out as I was saving it... so those beautiful words are now forever gone... replaced with what you see here. Anyway, helpful reviews are appreciated. Also, I'd like to thank you all about the lack of comments about spelling and typos... I have no spell-check on my computer and what you see is completely unedited and straight from my mind... so the lack of comments about that is much appreciated... I'd like to keep it that way. 


	8. The S Rank Mission

A/N: Sorry this took so long... I had to get re-situated... you know, watch the series again, examine the finer points in the series. At any rate, here's the next chapter some of you have been waiting for so long to see... hope you enjoy it. Oh, almost forgot the review responses, I've heard that some of you review solely just to get a response.. is that true? Anyway...

Sailor Tiamat - You'll see, he does, and _I_ felt like it was rushed.

Midori Aoi - Stop it you're embarassing me ;... my work really isn't all that great, it's just something I do on-the-side when I have some extra time.

TheDisruptiveOne - Sorry, Gaara won't be coming in for a good while... I'll make sure he pops in though, with a couple of new techniques to boot!

gonekrazy3000 - I'm kinda glad I did too -eyes rifle and dogs as their shoved away- I was suprised that the internet people came when they said they would.

Morgri - Not with your fury on the line oo; that's for sure.

Hououza - I wonder about that as well oo. Making said certain show up _would_ be rather intresting... but you just showed that it's predictable. Maybe someone might show up, just probably not the person you think -grin-.

Amanda - Turned your insides to mush hm? Maybe I should take up writing fluff for a living... also yes, I _can_ do more than cliffhangers! Though I noticed I got significantly less reviews for it and it made me want to write less.

All my other loyal subjects! - Thank you for continuing to read this story made by yours truly by a combination of free time and an overactive imagination! Your reviews inspire me to keep this fanfiction going, so keep em' coming, ne?

* * *

**Promise of a Lifetime**  
**Chapter 8: The S Rank Mission**

"It hurts..." said the blonde haired boy.

He was in his room, sitting on his windowsill. The moon was full tonight; bright, spectacular, and larger than he had ever seen it. It was late... by the positon of the moon, almost midnight... and he had just gotten home.

Naruto held himself as if cold, curling into a ball. True as it was that he had enjoyed his 'date' with Sakura so much that he had, while with her, forgotten everything that was bothering him. However...

"It hurts...!" he said, on the verge of tears.

This was a new pain for him, one that he had only felt vaguely before. Now he was feeling it full on, the pain of never being able to be with the one you loved. Even after spending such a wonderful time with them. He knew that he would probably never get to feel the pure joy he had felt today ever again... he now knew that if he was together with Sakura, nothing could ever go wrong. The fact that he had only tasted that hurt more than anything, it hurt more than when Sasuke nearely destroyed his body with the Chidori, hurt more than when he realized that he wouldn't be able to keep his promise, it hurt even more than that day... memories came unbidden to his mind.

The times that Sakura had pushed him away angrily for Sasuke was trivial at best and sometmes even fun, what he remembered were the worst times. The time when he brought Tsunade back with him to heal Sasuke. She threw herself on the boy... and at that time, he could feel himself growing ever more distant from her... he couldn't bare it... he didn't belong there. The time she was going to leave to search for Sasuke alone... she was just as willing to throw her life away for Sasuke as he was willing to throw his away for her. The time she had taken him out on a 'date' to tell him about the cursed seal. Most of all, though... that one memory kept coming back to him.

_"You... really love him, huh?"_

Again and again that day played over in his mind, the day that he finally knew. The day that he realized for the first time just how painful one-sided love could be. He did love Sakura, it wasn't just puppy love. He lived to protect her, if she were to die he would have little reason for living. Kakashi, Iruka, Konohamaru and his friends, Tsunade, Jiraiya, all the other Genin...they meant a lot to him, but Sakura. Sakura was the most important person in his life, the most important thing of all was her life, even more so than his dream of becoming Hokage, which was now being pushed aside by his promise to return Sasuke to Sakura.

Going out with Sakura was fun, and at times he could really imagine that they were truly together. He couldn't have been happier... but... afterwards, when they seperated for the night, he could barely make it back up to his apartment. His shoulders were twice as heavy with grief than before. He knew it would happen, he knew that the pain would be bad but he never imagined that it would get this bad.

The orange-clad shibobi raised his hand and placed it over his heart and began to massage lightly. His heart was battered and bruised, nearly decimated. So he went on into the night, eventually falling into an uneasy sleep right there on the windowsill, his heart aching, his spirit beaten, and his hopes defeated. Before unconsciousness finally claimed him he gave a small smirk.

_"Just like old times..."_

* * *

Something was wrong today. Naruto wasn't his usual self. True he had been acting strange lately, but he still had his limitless supply of energy. Today, however, was different. He was quiet and far off as they waited for their teacher to arrive. His eyes seemed distant and thoughtful as he leaned on the railing of the bridge, looking out at something her own eyes couldn't see. Sakura couldn't help but be worried, she had never seen Naruto like this before and just yesterday he was fine, in fact he seemed happier than she had ever seen him last night.

Her eyes widened slightly and she gave a start as she continued to stare at her genin partner. The way he was leaning on that railing, the way that his eyes stared off into nothing. She had only seen one other person act this way... him. The kunoichi's eyes began to become glossy as she stepped closer to Naruto, she didn't want to see it happen, she had to do something to stop it before he... before he ended up like...

Naruto turned suddenly, the far off look in his eyes disappearing as he focused on the pink-haired girl. She gave an inward sigh of relief to see that his eyes were still his, bright blue and wide with concern and suprise as Sakura leaned on the railing next to him. Normally this wouldn't have suprised him, but she was close... really close. If she moved even a little more towards his direction, their arms would be touching, and she was smiling at him, her eyes closed to hide the tears in them.

"Sakura-chan? What's wrong?"

Sakura shook her head and looked out down the river

"Nothing..."

She opened her eyes again, the welling tears now gone. She assured herself that Naruto wouldn't become another Sasuke. He was strong and had no reason to turn out the way Sasuke did, no reason for revenge, right?

Slowly the boy's confuision and worry turned into a small smile. It was a simple gesture, but it helped him loads. It was something unspoken by them that she would be there for him. It helped to ease the pain inside of him, a little.

"Yo" came that familiar lazy greeting, followed by a puff of smoke on the the archway over the middle of the bridge, "Sorry I'm-- oh...? am I interrupting?"

Naruto and Sakura quickly seperated, Sakura with her hands in her lap, staring at the ground with a small blush, and Naruto scratching the back of his head sheepishly as if they were two teenagers caught in the act... which the kind of were.

"N-no! Not at all" said Naruto a little nervously, unsure of why he was so embarassed all of a sudden.

Kakashi gave a small laugh as he jumped down from his little perch, landing with a light thud on the wood planks of the bridge, smling behind that mask. He was glad to see his subordinates again. With all the S Rank missions he'd been recieving he rarely had a chance to see them anymore, and usually when he did there was some sort of trouble. For him to see his remaining team without any obvious troubles really brightened Kakashi's day.

"Well then, you already know what we have to do, Naruto... I think it's time we filled in Sakura on this S-Class mission." he said casually.

Naruto gave a small nod and turned back to face Sakura, who had stopped blushing and was looking incredulously at Kakashi. She looked utterly dumbfounded at the idea of Genins going out on an S-Rank mission.

"S RANK?" Sakura asked, as if the idea were completely ludicrous, then she smiled lightly and laughed nervously, "Y-you're k-kidding right? I mean we're only Genin! We can't handle a--"

"Sakura-chan!" said Naruto suddenly, cutting her off effectively, "this is real. We've been assigned an S Rank mission, and if we manage to succeed in it we'll both be promoted to trial-jounin..."

Sakura's eyes widened once more. It had been years since Genin had been promoted to trial-jounin. Trial-jounin were just that, possible jounin who are just trying out the lifestyle. They were sent out constantly on higher rank missions; B and A class missions on the upper scale. If they continued to prove their worth and still wanted the job, they got promoted to sub-jounin which gave them the right to compete in the jounin selection examinations. Like the chuunin exams, jounin exams were extremely rigorous but unlike chuunin exams they weren't made into a public spectacle. The Hokage herself would have to actually make the examination. It was a one-shot deal, too... fail the jounin exams and you could never become one.

Since she was little, before she had even met Ino... she always wanted to be a female ANBU member. A famous kunoichi ANBU... which were on the rare side. In order to become one she needed to become a jounin. Also, the money was rather enticing. Jounin got payed enough to support themselves independantly, plus commissions from their high-ranking missions. That meant severely increased pay, and enough money to actually live on her own. It was almost unheard of... usually people only became trial-jounin in their mid to late twenties.

"This is going to be a dangerous mission... and we need a medi-nin" explained Kakashi, "I hear from Hokage-sama that you're ready to practice field medical techniques. There may be injured, seeing as this is an extraction mission."

"Extraction...?" asked Sakura, slightly confused, "Extraction from where?"

"Kumogakure in the Lightning Country..." explained Kakashi, "apparently a few people from Konoha were captured after accidentally wandering into their territory. Kumo and Konoha have always been at ill ease with each other, so they must think that the group of chuunin that were wandering around are spies. Our job is to rescue these 6 people... and since we're heading into the enemy's territory... it's almost certain that we'll be running into opposition. Also, the chance that the 6 people are injured is very high... that's why we need a medical ninja..."

"Why me though? I mean there are plenty of other medical shinobi that are way better than I am! I mean... I can barely treat wounds at all, and I've never tried it on an actual human before!"

"Two reasons..."

Kakashi held up a single finger.

"First, this is a test to see if you can really be a medi-nin or not. According to Tsunade-sama, if you can't do minor medical techniques on the field by now than she shouldn't waste her time training you. She says you're ready to work on humans... and if you succeed on this mission she'll start teaching you more advanced techniques."

He held up his second finger, still looking with half-lidded eyes at her.

"Second, there's no one in Konoha who works better with Naruto than you, and his newly aquired skills are critical for getting the prisoners safely. To tell the truth, he can do a better job at it than I can."

This caused Naruto to swell with pride. His training was producing results! He could actually out-do Kakashi in something! Little did he know that he completely outclassed the jounin when he was fighting Sasuke in the Valley of the End... both he and Sasuke did at that point. Once Naruto could control the full potential of Kyuubi... he would outclass even the Sannin by a great margin.

"You mean..." started the girl, looking over to her companion. Kakashi and Naruto both gave a nod.

"The Hiden Aiton..." said Naruto.

Sakura looked to the wood planks beneath her feet. Naruto didn't sound like he was going to back out of this mission, no matter what. It was an S Rank mission too. She remembered how hurt Naruto had become during their last mission with Jiraiya. She was afraid she would get him hurt again but... if he got hurt this time... she would have the means to restore him. She wouldn't be able to forgive herself if he got hurt and she wasn't there to help. She looked up at the two, determination in her eyes.

"I'll do it." she said confidently.

* * *

"Naruto... what's your status...?" came Kakashi's voice through the micro ear-piece.

Naruto was attatched to the cieling, crawling along slowly. He hoped that he wouldn't suddenly forget how to attatch himself to things via chakra, it was the only thing keeping him from becoming mincemeat as he was suspended not a foot above many whirling blades; fans part of Kumo's prison ventilation... it kept prisoners from escaping through the ventilation... however no one thought that people would be breaking _in_ via ventilation.

"A slip away from death as usual... Sakura-chan, what about you?"

That joke made Sakura wince lightly. The fact that Naruto was just a few inches from those fans didn't ease her worry at all. However, she had her own problems to deal with. She was a slip away from death as well as she balanced on a thin beam of metal... beneath her a lake of magma. It was one of the areas where prisoners worked sometimes... meaningless work of lifting heavy rocks and throwing them into the lava. There was no point to it. The caverns were empty though, as it was now lunch.

"Please don't say things like that... I'm a medi-nin in training remember? And I'm fine..."

"Copy... so far so good, we might actually get out of this without a fight..." said Kakashi

"34 meters 7 centimeters from first target..." came the noisy-ninja's unusually quiet voice over the com link.

"27 meteres 9 centimeters from first target..." came the kunoichi's determined voice.

"13 meters 11 centimeters from first target..." said Kakashi finally, "Okay this is where things get tricky... let's go over it again... first I'll nuetralize any guards patrolling the area... then.. Sakura..."

"Right... I'll come in and check for wounded and heal them if necessary... after that Naruto comes in..."

"And after that it's my job to create a kage bunshin and transform it to look like the captive. I have to bring the prisoner out the way I came... through the ventilation shaft. Now why are we coming from three different directions again?"

Sakura sighed over the intercom, exasperated.

"So that if one of us gets caught, the other two can come and rescue them..."

"Enough chatter... we have work to do..."

The guards didn't even know what hit them. The copy ninja caught them before they could hit the ground and soundlessly moved them away. This was shinobi territory, even the sound of a body hitting the floor would alert everyone else. The experienced ninja looked up and down the damp, dark halls of the prison. The cells weren't open like those in Konoha, but rather had thick steel doors, with a small window near the top. That was concvenient, the prisoners wouldn't cause a ruckus that way... and less commotion from the prisoners meant less guard duty. He formed the forbidden seal of shadow and created a kage bunshin... and transformed into the two guards. It was funny that out of all the cells, this was the only one that was guarded, yet the guard detail was so light.

"In position... Sakura."

"Got it..." she said. She was already in place, attatched to the rocky cieling, "geez it's hard to concentrate with this heat... here it goes..."

The kunoichi attatched a small tag to the handle of one of her kunai and immediately the blade flared up with chakra. Silently she thanked her teacher as she began to cut through the rock. The blade slid through the dense rock like a hot knife through butter, thanks to the sharpening charm. It wasn't long before she cut all the way through. The captive inside gave a startled gasp as she came out of the firey orange hole, as if she was a demon straight out of hell.. but luckily, the Konoha ninja noticed her headband and quickly helped her out of the hole. Sakura immediately surveyed the scene and hit her com link.

"We're all alive, they're keeping us in twos... can you help him? He's hurt bad..." said the man who helped her up.

She was reminded of Naruto as soon as she looked at him... but at the same time she was reminded of Kakashi. He wore the same mask as Kakashi and was thin and tall just like her jounin teacher, but at the same time his facial features were a lot like Narutos, without the strange whisker marks of course. His hair was styled in the same fashion of Naruto, though it was the same silver as Kakashi's... and finally, he had stunning bright blue eyes that were strangely similar to Naruto's... but held the same kind of look that Kakashi had when he got serious.

"There's one wounded... according to one of the captives they're being kept in pairs as we suspected... Naruto, hurry down here, I'm going to heal this one and you can escort them to safety..." Sakura reported, remembering that she was on a mission and didn't have time to muse about this strange Kakashi/Naruto hybrid person.

She kneeled next to the injured one and looked over him. There were various cuts in his body and shuriken were sticking out of his body in several places. She was thankful that the Kakashi/Naruto hybrid person didn't remove them or he would have died from blood loss. Her trained hands moved over his body quickly, finding that he had several broken bones and a torn lung. She got to work immediately, mending the bones and scared tissue with her chakra. The ninja was actually pretty short, even shorter than Sakura. He had long, bright red hair that stuck out in every direction wildly. Like most shinobi, he was dressed in dark purple and black. This shinobi as well had a mask and most of his face was covered save for his eyes.

"I don't think I can heal him fully... but I can get him to move again..." she said to the other shinobi before speaking again into the com link, "Naruto, where are you?"

"Sakura-chan...!" came the hurried whisper over the com link, there was plenty of static, "ran into... of them... gonna... spotted...!...Sakura-chan... cra---!"

"Naruto! Naruto!" the kunoichi called into the com link desperately, nothing but radio noise answering.

A half second later the room turned red, alarms were blaring. Sakura clenched her teeth and continued to work on the injured shinobi, she couldn't let this phase her from her work.

_"Naruto... please be alright..."_

"Sakura! This is bad, guards are coming and plenty of them! Can the two of them move!" called Kakashi through the small intercom.

"Almost, give me a minute and a half!" She said as she was sewing together his sliced lung.

This part was a very delicate procedure. The inside of the lung was like bubblewrap, if she slipped even a half a milimeter with her chakra, she would destroy the lining of his lung and ultimately kill him.

"I can give you half that!" said Kakashi as the clang of kunai against kunai sounded over the intercom.

_"Steady Sakura... steady..."_ the last centimeter was done and she quickly revived him with smelling salts.

The red-haired man woke with a start and shook his head violently. He looked around, slightly confused.. then as if memory suddenly hit him he jumped to his feet, only to nearly collapse again from the blood loss combined with the rapid movement. Without missing a beat, Sakura handed them both kunai.

"Kakashi-sensei... I'm finished." She reported over the intercom before looking up at them, "Come on, we're getting you out of here now."

"Link us up to the intercom." said the silver-haired one briefly as he tapped the button on the small device hidden inside of his ear. Sakura did the same, instantly adding him to the channel.

No sooner had she added the two did the giant metal door fly across the room, forcing the silver haired ninja to roll out of the way, lest he be hit with half a ton of solid steel. In the doorway stood Kakashi, Sharingan showing and all.

"We're leaving, come on!" he said as he helped Sakura to her feet.

"But Naruto--" started Sakura, worried about her partner.

"Naruto's fine, we have to move!" said Kakashi as he began to do just that.

Sakura, with no other choice, followed as best as she could, running after the copy ninja as fast as possible, the other two shinobi right on her heels. She prayed with all her heart that Naruto was okay, that he could get himself out of whatever he had gotten into. Her prayers were answered as they rounded the next corner. Naruto was there, standing over a fallen jounin, grinning weakly as he held his shoulder. He was battered and bruised and blood leaked from his mouth and from under his headband, but besides that he seemed fine. Sakura rushed over to heal him, but didn't get a chance as Kakashi chimed in.

"Naruto! Take these two up to the exit, use the Hiden Aiton to guard them." ordered Kakashi, "Sakura and I are going to get the next two prisoners, meet us there!"

"Got it, you two follow me!" said Naruto, seemingly revitalized.

The two shinobi they had just rescued looked somewhat confused. What were Secret Love Techniques? None of them had ever heard of such a thing before. The copy ninja Kakashi seemed to trust him, however, so the two ninja followed with little hesitation. They half hoped they would run into something so they could see the Hiden Aiton, whatever it was. No such thing happened, however. The two were rescued successfully and the group was able to get the other four prisoners out with little contact with the enemy. It seemed like Naruto's Hiden Aiton wouldn't be needed to complete the mission.

"That's the last of them!" said Sakura when they got to the main hall of the prison. Unlike Konoha, this prison wasn't suspended over a raging lake of lava... it was solid and actually surrounded by a forest. Escaping from this ninja prison wasn't entirely difficult if you could manage to overpower the guards.

"Heh, an S-class mission huh? The hardest part was taking out that guy back there when I was alone!" said Naruto arrogantly as he looked, arms crossed behind his head casually, as the last of the captured shinobi fled the area.

"You're right... this is too easy..." said Kakashi.

The sound of clapping suddenly filled the air and instantly all three shinobi settled into fighting stances as a figure emerged from the shadows. All three of their eyes widened.

"Y-you..." said Naruto unsteadily, staring at the familiar face.

The other two, however... couldn't tell what the creature was before them... the strange, light grey-skinned creature that seemed to emit evil from the very pit of it's soul. Giant wings protruded from the black-clad creature's back... and a long mane of purplish grey hair fell past it's shoulders.

"Nice work from all three of you, especially you, dobe..."said the figure in a hauntingly familiar voice, "Then again... I've already killed almost everyone here..."

_"That voice..."_ thought Sakura, her eyes widening... she was shaking, "No... it's a lie... it can't be!"

_"So that's how it is..." _thought the group's jounin teacher, "I see... so this is the path you've chosen..."

"Sasuke...!" growled Naruto through gritted teeth. He was further lost now than he ever was... the orange-clad shinobi could see it in his eyes. He had chosen his path and it was set. Nothing they could have said or done would get him to come back but...

_"It's a promise of a lifetime..."_

The large metal gate suddenly collapsed then. The ground shuddered as it slammed against the ground, cloaking the large hall in shadow... nothing but torchlight to illuminate the place. Sasuke's laughter echoed in the large hall as all the exits sealed.

"You've gotten this far... but it looks like I win..." his voice came.

_"I'm here to kill _her the memory faded into Naruto's head.

"Dammit!" said Naruto as he began forming seals as fast as he could. Again his hands blurred as he went through the complicated seal arrangement.

Inu, Tora, Ryu, Saru, O-hitsuji, O-ushi, Nezumi, Uma, Hebi, Usagi, Saru, Tora, Ryu, Tora, Nezumi...

He heard the distinct chirping sound of Sasuke's Chidori... the purplish black chakra he emitted sounded very different from Kakashi's.

...Ousu-buta, Tori, Tora, O-hitsuji, Nezumi, Usagi, Uma, Saru, Ryu, Uma, Hebi, Tori, Inu...

He heard Sakura scream, but not the screech of the Chidori being thrust, she must have spotted Sasuke's attack.

...Ryu, Saru, Usagi, Nezumi...

"Dammit!" Kakashi cried out followed by his footsteps. It didn't seem like he would make it in time, "Sakura!"

he locked his thumbs and splayed out his fingers, like one would when creating a bird shadow against a wall... Tenshi!

"HIDEN AITON OUGI!" he yelled out as the screech of Chidori and scream of Sakura filled his ears, "SHUGO TENSHI NO JUTSU!"

* * *

A/N: Another evil cliffhanger for you all! MWAHAHAHA! You know, for some reason my writing feels awkward and a little forced. I dunno, you be the judge. Also, you don't get to see what the Shugo Tenshi no Jutsu does until next chapter! MUAHAHA. Also, some of you might be curious about the hand-seals... if so, you can look here: http/ for those of you that are curious, Shugo Tenshi no Jutsu means, "Guardian Angel Technique" and Ougi means "Ultimate Technique"

Heh heh... again, sorry this took so long to get out... I had to watch Naruto basically all over again!


	9. Rivals Clash!

A/N: Heh, just as I epected.. I really felt it was forced, and people seem to agree -bows deeply- gomen, next time I'll try my hardest! Now for the moment you've all (well at least some) of you have been waiting for! FAN MAIL!

The End of Infinity - Everyone a big round of applause for Infinity! She hath delivered my hundredth review! Thank you so much Also... don't be a sad panda, in fact, don't even be a panda! Unless you want people to call you bark-breath or something.

Hououza - You jump to conclusions Phoenix-san...

MingShun - There's a reason for the static build up, just be patient... I'll have to agreee with everything else though --.

Midori Aoi - Your words touch me! They touch me right here -thumps fist against heart-

NLMikomi - Yeah, I kinda do get that feeling sometimes, especially after I haven't updated for a long time, but hey, it's better than me not updating at all right? That's how it used to be with all my other (deleted) stories .

Everyone who commented about the cliffhangers (basically everyone) - It's all part of the fun! If I don't have those cliffys, would you be half as psyched to read the next chapter, no matter how crappy the preceeding one was? No! Just look at it this way... I love you all so much that I'm doing everything I can to keep you around! -grin-

Now, without further ado... the next chapter of...

* * *

**Promise of a Lifetime  
Chapter 9: Rivals Clash!  
**

Her eyes opened wide as they finally found the grotesque creature that was Sasuke dashing for her at full speed with what seemed to be blackish purple lightning in his left palm. The Chidori, it was the second time it was being used against her... but this time, Naruto was too far away to help her, she was really going to die this time. She let out a loud scream, hoping in vain that her fright might save her from the one she had loved with all of her heart.

"HIDEN AITON OUGI!" she heard vaguely over her own scream, "SHUGO TENSHI NO JUTSU!"

It was too late, she felt her hair standing on end and the tingling sensation of the lightning on her skin. She could feel Sasuke's fingertips right over her heart. In a flash she closed her eyes, hoping it would all go away, that it was all just a dream and that she'd wake up in her bed... safe. Through all of this, however... came the thoughts of Naruto, trying so desperately to save her.

_"I'm sorry... Naruto..."_ her mind whispered... remembering everything he had done for her. He was always there for her... always...

_"You... really love him huh? "_

_"No... the one who saved you is... Naruto..."_

_"I can understand... very well how you feel right now... "_

_"He even displayed abilities he's never shown before... just for you..."_

_"I'll definitely bring him back!"_

_"Sasuke-kun... I couldn't stop him..."_

_"The only one who can bring him back is.."_

_"He said it doing the 'Nice Guy Pose'... Everything's going to be fine..."_

_"There's no point in trying to stop me!"_

_"Sakura-chan..."_

_"Do what you need to until you're satisfied... but I'm coming with you!"_

_"The only one that can save him is..."_

_"Although it's become just the two of us, we're still a three man team right?"_

_"You..."_

_"It's a promise of a lifetime..."_

The memories came completely unbidden... he was the only thing she could think of, even in her last moments. She regretted not being able to be there with him until the end... she regretted that she would never be able to repay everything he's done for her... that he was doing for her, but most of all...

_"Sakura-chan..."_

Most of all...

_"Sakura-chan!"_

She would regret never being able to see him again... never being able to catch that careless grin on his face, never being able to look into those wonderful deep blue eyes and try to figure out what was going on his mind, never be able to hear him call her 'Sakura-chan' ever again.

_"Naruto..." _she thought, tears coming into her closed eyes, _"When did I start to care about you so much...?"_

She finally opened her eyes... all she could see was white, all around her was shining white. There was nothing else but white... for a moment she thought she was in heaven, before the white suddenly began to split... she could make out feathers, all parts of the two wings that spread behind her back. In front of her was Sasuke, his fingers still touched her heart, but only lightly, as if they had been stopped short.

"What the Hell?" yelled Sasuke, utterly confused as the wings dissolved into white sparks of chakra, enveloping Sakura.

Her whole body glowed white and she stared, wide-eyed at Sasuke's fingertips against her chest. The Chidori had hit her, but she wasn't dead. A loud, forced cough followed by the splatter of blood filled the room. Everyone turned to Naruto, and all of their eyes widened. There, in his chest, just barely missing his heart was a smoldering hole that occasionally sparked electricity. The blonde boy coughed up some more blood.

"Impossible!" cried Sasuke at the result of his Chidori, on Naruto instead of it's intended target.

"Naruto... you used... _that_ technique?" asked Kakashi.

"Naruto-kun!" called Sakura at the sight of blood dripping out of the hole in his chest.

The boy in question chuckled and closed his eyes. The wound right above his heart had already begun to heal, right before everyone'e eyes. He stood up, grinning vitoriously as he dusted himself off.

"What is the meaning of this!" demanded Sasuke, who was the only one not suprised at this rapid healing. He had seen it once before in the Valley of the End... it had scared him then, but he wasn't about to allow the same thing to scare him twice in a row. He jumped away from Sakura, lest she regained her mind quickly and counterattacked, and activated his Sharingan.

_"The Shugo Tenshi no Jutsu..." _thought Kakashi, lifting his Konoha headband, revealing his Sharingan, _"It's a technique that Naruto invented himself. He throws out his chakra to another person and focuses it onto the point of impact. He creates a tunnel with his chakra, channeling all of the damage and impact to Naruto as well. The only flaw is that he can't adjust where the damage will land... wherever the blow lands on the protected, it will land in the same spot as him. Sakura must have moved slightly while being attacked... and as a result, Naruto's heart was missed... though just barely. He then uses Kyuubi's chakra to heal whatever wounds he gets... it would be suicidal for anyone to use besides him... but... since when did he have so great of control over Kyuubi's chakra?"_

Sakura was astonished to see Naruto's wounds heal so fast... it was incredible, even Tsunade-sama couldn't heal a wound like that _that_ quickly. It would take a lot of chakra that she just didn't have.

_"Kyuubi is sealed inside of me..."_

She remembered hearing him saying that. It didn't take her long to figure out the technique after that. Tears came to her eyes again, Naruto was going to sacrifice his life to save her yet again... she thought that by this time she would be strong enough to take care of herself. She felt helpless right now... she knew that she could take care of herself... but not against Sasuke... she didn't want to fight Sasuke, she still hadn't come to terms with him trying to kill her... she still believed that somehow, someday Sasuke could be saved.

"I..." said Naruto, eyes still closed and head hanging so that his eyes were covered by his spiky blonde hair. He slowly raised his head, glaring at Sasuke.

Everyone's eyes widened as they felt immense chakra pouring from Naruto. The whole building seemed to be shaking violently and even Sakura could see the long tendrils of blood red chakra surrounding Naruto, absorbing into his body, wrapping around him protectively and illuminating the dark hall. Sasuke smirked, it wasn't as much as in the Valley of the End... but he could see that this immense chakra was more controlled... and that meant it was all the more dangerous. Kakashi was suprised again, Naruto had drawn out an immense portion of chakra from Kyuubi without losing himself, what was going on? Sakura... Sakura was just astonished.

"I will protect Sakura-chan..." he said, raising his head and glaring at Sasuke with his bright blue eyes, "...no matter what!"

Sasuke scoffed, and in an instant the disappeared from view... Sakura's at least. Kakashi strained with his Sharingan to keep up with their incredible movement. He had only seen movement this fast when Gai used the Primary Lotus. If he didn't have the Sharingan, he wouldn't be able to keep up with it at all. Sakura watched amazed as Sasuke faded in and out of view rapidly.

"They're... so fast..." thought Sakura as they faded into view right in front of her. Sasuke swiped at Naruto with one of his wings, but Naruto ducked to avoid the blow... at the same instant, they both disappeared again and reappeared somewhere else in the room where Naruto threw a kick which Sasuke blocked with one of his grotesque wings, and again they both disappeared.

Finally, the two of them appeared in the center of the hall. They both threw a punch, and both punches were caught. The two were in a stalemate as they stood there, barely able to hold the other still. Naruto smirked and one of the long tendrils of chakra that was surrounding them both suddenly glowed brightly as it swept Sasuke off his feet. Sasuke's eyes widened... he was open, wide open.

The gray-haired monstrosity didn't even have time to use the Kawarimi as he felt Naruto's punch slam into his cheek, sending him flying towards the giant steel door that blocked the exit. Naruto appeared in his flight path and grabbed him by the legs before he could so much as raise a kawarimi. He was spun around rapidly and he felt all nine of the long tendrils wrapping around his body. Naruto let out a yell as he was finally released. His body disappeared with the high speed as he was thrown. He felt the cool steel against his back as the metal door was busted off of it's hinges, opening the prison to the outside world. A huge dustcloud formed as Sasuke slid across the dirt. Acting quickly, he pressed against the ground with one of his hands as he slid, flipping too his feet and skidding backwards and up onto a tree. He heard the sound of breaking wood behind him and jumped away quickly. Naruto was there, his fist driven through the splintered wood.

"Tch..." muttered Sasuke, _"He's gotten faster... stronger... better at controlling his chakra... this isn't the same Naruto I fought back then... he's actually controlling that damned red chakra now..."_

Naruto glared at Sasuke coldly as he pulled his fist slowly from the inside of the tree. Sasuke noticed there were spiral marks on the inside of the tree. The boy noticed it immediately as a primitive form of that Rasengan that Naruto had used during their last battle. He was enhancing each of his punches with spiral energy. He lifted his hand to his cheek where he had been hit. He felt a warm liquid on his finger tips. He had been wounded, and Naruto had yet to recieve a scratch, his healing abilities far too powerful to let him come to harm. He wasn't going to win at this rate. Though he realized something, Naruto seemed to be in full control of the red chakra. If he used as much chakra as he did in the Valley of the End... while in full control of it like this, Sasuke would be dead right now... he was holding back.

"What's the matter? You were more aggressive last time..." said Sasuke as he stood from his crouched position to glare at Naruto, "still can't break that tie? That's the difference between you and me, clumsy idiot... that's why you'll always lose to me!"

Kakashi watched, astonished at this level of battle. It wasn't even the type of battle that he could jump into and seperate the two of them, he would only get himself or Naruto killed if he interfered, and he knew it. Sakura seemed to know it too. She stood, stunned as she watched the battle unfold. Sasuke had said that Naruto was holding back, she winced as she had knew it was because of the promise he had made. It was still binding him, preventing him from unleashing his full strength against Sasuke and ultimately destroying him. Still... despite that fact that he might lose... she didn't want him to break that promise, she didn't want to face losing Sasuke forever, even if her view of him had lessened she still thought of him as a lost friend, and she definitely didn't want him to be killed, but saved from darkness.

"Open your eyes Sasuke..." said Naruto softly as he walked up to the boy, "Don't let Orocimaru take you so easily! I thought you were an Uchiha, the strongest clan in all of Konoha! What kind of Uchiha would let some evil bastard control them!"

Sasuke growled, not able to respond. Those words made him angry, Naruto was attacking him in a particularly tender spot. He stood, wiping the blood from his cheek, revealing numerous cuts forming a rough spiral. He watched his opponent carefully, telling himself to calm down, he wouldn't wind this if he was angry. He had to think. Otherwise Naruto would do like he said in the Valley of the End... and break every bone in his body.

Naruto glanced to Kakashi, catching his gaze for a split second, then cocking his head in the smallest of moves towards Sakura. Kakashi had almost missed it, but he knew what he meant and gave a small nod in return. Naruto focused his attention on his opponent once more.

"Come on, we have to get out of here..." said the copy ninja, "This isn't the kind of battle you can get involved with at your level, Naruto will buy us a little bit of time, that is his wish."

Sakura looked up to her sensei in disbelief, never once had he trusted ANY of them to stay behind and fight the enemy alone when he was with them. That meant that this was a battle beyond even his level, which was saying a lot. Sakura gave a nod, knowing that she would only get in the way at this point. She followed Kakashi, both of them racing out of the gigantic doorway. Sasuke caught them out of the corner of his eye as they dashed into the forest.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" he heard Naruto's voice suddenly, forcing his attention back to his opponent... who was now a raging _army_ of opponents, racing at him at full speed.

"Damn!" cursed Sasuke as he dodged the first punch and kicked the clone in the face hard, it disappeared into a puff of white smoke.

Sasuke muttered obscenities under his breath, Sakura had gotten away again. Again he had lost his chance to kill her because of his blonde-haired rival. He let out a roar of anger, taking it out on the mass of clones that were coming at him full force. He had yet to be hit directly by any of Naruto's clones, ever. He wasn't about to let them hit this time. His eyes opened wide as a thought hit him.

_"It can't be!" _he thought as he jumped into the air, performing the seals of one of his most powerful techniques, _"KATON! Goukakyuu no Jutsu!"_

Fire enveloped the mass of clones, all of them disappearing in white puffs of smoke... it was just as he feared... Naruto was gone. He felt something collide with the back of his head.

"U--!" Naruto cried out.

Sasuke was hurdling for the ground at a warped speed and out of the flames hopped three clones. Before he could even raise a proper guard their kicks connected.

"ZU!-MA!-KI!" they cried in turn, sending him hurdling into the air.

He didn't even have a chance to spin in mid air as he felt Naruto's foot connect with his stomach.

"NARUTO!..." it yelled, though it lacked the 'Rendan' at the end of it... that could only mean that...

"NIBAN...!" said the real Naruto, the rest of the clones disappearing.

Sasuke coughed blood as he felt Naruto's knee in his back. Any normal person's back would have been broken by this point, but thanks to Sasuke's wings, no such thing happened. He travelled back up slightly

"RENDAN!" he heard as Sasuke's stomach was hit in the stomach with both of Naruto's fist, sending him straight into the ground, a making a small crater appear around his now battered form.

Naruto panted lightly as his clones disappeared. He had used a lot of his own chakra in conjunction with Kyuubi's... and now that he wasn't using that red chakra, he felt exhausted because of his dwindled personal chakra reserves. He slid into a fighting stance as he heard a small, cold chuckle from inside of the crater. Sasuke pulled himself out of the small hole and grinned, coughing up blood.

"The Uzumaki Naruto Second Combo... huh...?" said Sasuke as his body began to become transparent, startling Naruto lightly, "I was looking for a chance to test this new... technique... it seems... to work fine..."

Sasuke began to leak out dark chakra.. no... he was _becoming_ dark chakra. The chakra spiralled up into the air slowly and Sasuke began to disappear as he again chuckled.

"Next time we meet... I won't go so easy on you, though..." he said before completely disappearing.

In Sasuke's place appeared a man. It wasn't anyone that Naruto knew, in fact, it seemed to be a normal Genin from the Otogakure. Naruto noticed that the shinobi had been dead for a long time, even before Naruto started pummeling him. Sasuke's chakra floated up and away with the breeze, disappearing from Naruto's view as it thinned and dispersed, making it so that he couldn't track it to Sasuke's location.

"Till we meet again..." came Sasuke's voice, seemingly coming from everywhere at once.

"Sasuke..." growled Naruto, tightening his fists. He felt warm blood trickle through his fingers as he broke skin with his nails.

* * *

"Naruto-kun!" called Sakura as she noticed Naruto walking through the forest towards them.

His eyes were doowncast, and he didn't seem to be in a very good mood at all. Kakashi, however, did the smart thing and checked with his Sharingan to see if this Naruto wasn't a transformed Sasuke which, thankfully, he wasn't.

"Naruto-kun! What happened? Are you alright? What happened to Sasuke?" She asked, worry in her eyes and voice.

Naruto was so tired and distracted that he didn't even noticed that the -kun had been transferred from Sasuke's name to his, nor that she actually included him in her worries before even mentioning Sasuke.

"It wasn't him... he just used his chakra on a dead shinobi to make some sort of clone." he explained to the worried girl.

"And you...?" she asked, looking him over for any damage at all, "what about you? You're not hurt are you?"

Naruto shook his head, "I'm fine, really..."

Sakura frowned as she found the blood dripping from his palms, the one thing that he hadn't healed with Kyuubi's chakra. She took his fists and unclenched them gently as she got to work. Her hand glowed green as the cuts on one hand slowly began to disappear. Naruto watched, amused as she did this... they were only small cuts, yet she was taking care of them as if they were mortal injuries. Kakashi smiled underneath that mask of his as he watched them... it was about time that Sakura began to care for Naruto. It was such a sudden change... but the jounin guessed that near-death experiences did wonders for opening people's eyes. What Naruto said worried him, though. It was a type of clone that could escape his Sharingan. That was dangerous... really dangerous. He needed to tell Tsunade as soon as possible. With taht kind of technique, he could simply disguise himself as someone of importance to get into Konoha. That wouldn't be good.

"Well... I'd hate to break this up but..." cut in Kakashi as Sakura healed Naruto's other hand, "We really need to be heading back to report. Hokage-sama might get the wrong idea if we take too long to come back..."

Naruto and Sakura nodded and together the three of them began to walk home to Konoha. It was a quiet trip... no one wanted to speak. In fact, even if they wanted to, they were all mentally stressed from the happenings as of late, and were far too tired to speak, even if they wanted to. As they finally reached, something struck the blonde-haired boy finally.

"Hey Sakura-chan..."

"Hm?"

"Back there..." he started his question, "Since when do you call me Naruto-'kun'?"

Sakura froze as she remembering back then clearly. To tell the truth, she wasn't sure what had made her start calling him that, but she liked the sound of it, to tell the truth. It sounded natural and rolled off of her tongue in the right way. Unlike Sasuke... she was finding his name to just feel wrong on her tongue nowadays... something that should only be said sparingly... she was growing farther and farther apart from the lone-wolf Uchiha, and closer to the not-so-noisy-anymore ninja. She decided that she would keep calling him that, after all...

"Because you're important to me..." she said with a smile, _"and I want to make you happy... even more than Sasuke..."_

* * *

A/N: Mreh... making her affections grow slowly is hard work. I have to tread carefully about everything that Sakura does... because at the moment, she's walking that dagger's edge between Naruto and Sasuke. Though she's leaning towards Naruto's side. Anyway, please review! I'm the engine of a car and you guys are my gasoline! So please don't let the gas light come on! Jaa na! Also, I realize this chapter is kind of short... sorry! I'll try to make up for it next chapter. 


	10. Welcome Home

A/N: Hey everyone! It's been a long time, hasn't it? -checks stats for story- ...hmm... wow...! I've been added to C2s, favorites, and alerts left and right. Heh heh, I'm becoming pretty famous for this story I think. I've been away because I wanted to establish a sense of waiting a long time in the story... that and... I've been incapable of coming on due to so much stress... but spring break is finally here, so I can write just a bit more... things are hectic over here... but I'm in a writing mood... Thanks to those of you diehards who intend to stick with this... and I hope it's too your satisfaction.

* * *

**Promise of a Lifetime**  
**Chapter 10: Welcome Home**

_"2 years... 4 months... and 22 days..."_

The pink haired kunoichi mused within her own mind. She would have had it down to the second, if she knew the exact time that he left. She shifted her head, not bothering to lift it from her pillow yet, to look at the clock on her bedside table. It was 5:59... she had spent yet another night without sleep. The girl let out a heavy sigh as she lifted herself up from her bed, her hand switching her alarm off just as it hit 6:00. Noiselessly she rose from her bed, setting her feet down onto the cold wood floor, she stood and made her way to the shower to start her usual morning routine.

As jets of warm water ran down her skin, the pink haired girl's thoughts drifted back to him... that one night where she asked him to stay, that one night where he had left. It had been 2 years, 4 months and 22 days since that had happened. She could still remember the vision of his retreating form. It was heart shattering. She didn't cry though, her tears had dried up after the first month or so, she just felt empty and alone.

After she was finished getting ready for yet another day, she stopped and looked at herself in the mirror. Haruno Sakura had changed much over the past 2 years, 4 months, and 22 days. Her hair had grown out a little, now at her shoulders. It had taken on a more wild and unkept look, as she hardly bothered with it anymore. Between training with the legendary sannin medic Tsunade, all the missions that were thrown at her day in and day out, and the day-to-day chores and responsibilities, Sakura rarely had time to take care of her hair these days. She had filled out a bit over the years, and her curves were developing quite nicely, though her body was still far from reaching full maturity, she was no l onger by any means 'flat'. Besides that, however, Sakura was still Sakura. She still wore her hair the same way, with her Konoha forehead protector acting as a ribbon, she still wore the same style of dress, and she still had an inner version of herself... which, lately, had been oddly quiet.

Satisfied with how she looked, she silently left through her window, as not to wake her parents. The first time she had ever left through her window, her parents had panicked. These days it was commonplace for them to walk into her room to find her already gone. As she walked down the streets of Konoha to meet with Tsunade for her morning training, she tried as hard as she could not to look at anything. No matter where she looked she was reminded of him.

A sudden sadness and anger welled up as she stopped. She came before the one place that reminded her of him the most. How she had gotten there, she didn't particularly know, up until today she had made a point to avoid the place as much as possible. She choked back tears as she remembered their last encounter at this place...

_Flashback_

"Why...?" She asked, a single tear slid down her cheek, she didn't want him to leave... she didn't want to let go of him now that her connection to him had become so strong.

"I have a family, and I have friends, but if you're gone..." she continued, unable to hold it in, she had no idea until much later that she was repeating things that she had said to Sasuke before he left.

"To me... it'll be the same as being alone! So please... stay here with me!" she begged, on the verge of full out crying, "If you can't stay... take me with you..."

A long pause filled the air... he turned back to her, a small smirk on his face, "Sorry... Sakura-chan..." he said sofly, "I'll return before three years are up, and I'll be stronger than ever! Then we'll bring Sasuke back for sure..."

"What if something happens before then! Not even Kakashi-sensei could fight Sasuke!" She contended, ignoring the sting at the mention of Sasuke's name, "Only you--"

"I've made arrangements with Tsunade baa-chan, you've got training with her anyway... and Sasuke wouldn't dare attack as long as there are sannin like Ero-sennin and Baa-chan around..." he pointed out, "Besides... Ero-sennin says that nothing will move for 3 years..."

"Why can't you train here? Around Konoha?" she moved on, knowing that that purpose was lost.

He paused for a second, not wanting Sakura to know of Akatsuki just yet... she didn't need to know that a group of elite ninja were chasing after him, even if they wouldn't make a move for three years. There was no need to worry her more than she was obviously worried already. He was already regretting telling ehr about Kyuubi being sealed within him, he was getting sad, sympathetic looks from Sakura every now and again. If there was anything that Naruto truly hated, it was Sakura's sadness.

"I'm going to be udnergoing some big training Sakura-chan, mostly on how to control you-know what..." he explained, gesturing to his stomach, "There would be too many questions if I started using that power freely around Konoha..."

Sakura looked down to the ground in defeat. There was silence for a long time, Sakura left deep within her own thoughts, trying to find some way to make the blonde stay... they had grown too close over the past couple of weeks for her to let him go now... but... all of his arguments made sense. She finally let out a huge sigh and opened her eyes, bright, intelligent green meeting an endless blue as she looked into his eyes.

"You'd better come back, Uzumaki Naruto."

He gave a small chuckle and grinned his usual Naruto grin, "I don't take back my words, remember? That's my 'way of the ninja.'"

_End Flashback_

She knew that he had to go, she knew that there was nothing she could do to stop him... but a girl could still be angry about it right? Naruto had disappeared just like Sasuke did! He left a huge hole in her heart that he had been steadily filling. Then the sadness washed over her. She felt alone and disconnected. Naruto had easily become her closest friend, and she was even starting to view him as an object of her affection. She trusted him more than anyone else in the village, and now that he had been gone for so long, there was a gaping hole in her life. Finally, an inward sigh washed over her... there was nothing she could do about it. He had promised to return before 3 years were up, and she did trust him... she expected to see the ninja soon... possibly within the next month... but still... knowing that the end was so close made the wait that much more unbearable.

"I wonder what you're doing right now... Naruto-kun?" she mused softly as she calimed control over her emotions right now. She giggled lightly as the answer came right away, "Probably training so hard you can barely move..."

She wasn't that far off, to tell the truth...

* * *

Sweat dripped down the blonde's battered form as he moved bobbed up and down at a slow pace, the one arm supporting his body buckling at the strain of hoisting up his body. They spiky haired boy was doing pushups, and was beginning to wear thin, his entire body straining as he pushed himself up.

"Ninety nine thousand... nine..hundred and... ninety... nine!" he almost screamed out as he reached the apex of the pushup. The now well-defined muscles in his left arm rippled and groaned in protest as he lowered himself yet again, "One... hundred... thousand!" he called out before collapsing on the ground, gasping for air as he completed the strenuous feat. It was something that Lee or Gai themselves could not do.

"Oi! Naruto!" called out his white-haired pervert of a teacher, "giving up already! It's only 7 in the morning!"

His eyes burned with energy as he pushed himself to his feet, still catching his breath. Jiraiya had started fighting him at full force only recently. It was difficult getting used to the full force of one of the legendary sannin, but slowly he was getting used to fighting the old man. Either way he would get stronger... if he won, he proved himself as strong as, or even stronger than one of the legendary three, and if he lost he was sentenced to a hundred thousand each of situps, right handed and left handed pushups, aquats, left legged kicks, right legged kicks, right handed punches, left handed punches, and lunges.

Still, it was frustrating that he had yet to win over the old man after he got serious. The fact that he couldn't use any of Kyuubi's chakra just made it even more frustrating. He had spent his entire first year learning the fine aspects of controlling that unimaginable power. He made frequent visits with the demon fox within him and, eventually, managed to come to a sort of peace with the greater demon, he would even go so far as to say that they were on friendly terms.

He assumed a stance once more, his sannin teacher doing the same. In all honesty, that Naruto could come at him multiple times in a day meant that he had done his job... he had pushed Naruto to the level of any of the Akatsuki members. Now was the trickier part, he had to push the boy above and beyond his very own level, and the only way he could really do that was to approach him as if he were an enemy.

"Naruto! This time I want you to use Kyuubi's powers!" ordered Jiraiya, gaining a startled look from his student. With a small laugh, he explained, "Over the past two years I've forbidden you from calling out that power. Your body was nowhere near resilient enough to take the abuse of such an enourmous amount of chakra... but now your body can endure far more abuse and chakra."

"Oh! I get it!" he exclaimed, "Because I've been training so hard my body can hold a lot more of Kyuubi's chakra, right?"

"Heh, no getting anything past you... now come!" ordered the sannin.

Naruto grinned, and not unlike how Sasuke activated his Sharingan, he closed his eyes for a moment. They shot open suddenly to reveal the blood red, demonic eyes of the evil trapped within him. He could feel the demon-fox's chakra flowing throughout his body freely, and the fatigue of his workout faded away. The blonde had learned how to take on his monster-like form in mere seconds, instead of it taking such a long time for the chakra to transform his features. He figured he'd start with just a little bit of Kyuubi's chakra, just enough to let him transform, and work his way up until he found his limit.

Jiraiya smiled, seeing that Naruto was holding back a lot of Kyuubi's chakra which, in this situation was for the best. He didn't know the limit of power he could draw from the fox yet before his body would start to deteriorate, and it wouldn't do for him to suffer severe chakra burns so close to the end of their training.

"Alright Naruto..." said Jiraiya with a smile as he shifted his stance slightly, "Come!"

Naruto charged his sensei without hesitation, already feeling the immense strength coursing through his form.

* * *

Sakura sidestepped Tsunade's punch and immediately pushed from the ground to avoid the drop kick she knew was coming. As expected, the legendary medic did not waste her momentum. Her foot raised high in the air before coming down hard, slamming into the ground, creating what had to be the thousandth crater in the small clearing that they typically trained in.

_"This is too much..."_ thought the pink-haired kunoichi as Tsunade used her half buried foot to propel herself foward at an alarming rate, a powerful left hook heading straight for her, _"All I can do is dodge!"_

Tsunade had started fighting her full capacity only today, and it was really frustrating. She didn't have the capacity to do much more than dodge her strikes. She sidestepped to the right and pushed her left hook even further to the blonde medi-nin's right, causing her entire weight to shift towards the ground. Again, she wasted none of the motion whatsoever and lifted her right leg for a reverse round-house kick.

_"There!"_ Sakura's mind screamed out, finally finding an opening in the fifth hokage's guard.

With expert timing, she reached out with her right hand, hoisting herself into a sideflip, but instead of completing it, her right hand shot out, pressing against her thigh as well to spin abrptly. She extended her right leg in the middle of the spin, a hard kick flying right for the Godaime's face. The hokage's bright amber eyes opened wide as she brought her left hand up to catch her kick by the ankle, and immediately regretted it as pain shot through her arm... the kick was heavily enhanced with chakra. It was so hard that it caused both of them to skid a few inches.

Sakura smirked as she spun her body around violently so that her left foot was in the air right above the sannin's head. She focused her chakra, enhanced the muscles within her left leg greatly, and the kick dropped. Tsunade reached up quickly with her right hand to block the incoming dropkick, her arm straining under the pressure of her chakra-enhanced kick. She was in a bad position. Sakura was in a perfect position to throw her, her torso twisted and arms firmly holding her thighs... she surely didn't waste the opportunity. She continued twisting her body hard, pulling her thigh up into the air. Not wanting to get stepped on, Tsunade let go of Sakura's legs, and was thrown, sent flying across the field. Sakura was quick to follow after, increasing her speed greatly with precise amounts of chakra at just the right moment in her feet.

Unable to guard herself as she flew backwards, Sakura's open-palmed thrust slammed hard into her chest, sending the hokage skidding along the dirt, leaving Sakura to stare in disbelief... she had just hit her sensei... sent her flying... all on her own, without the help of anyone! It made her ecstatic as she slid back into a fighting position. Tsunade picked herself up, dusting herself, a huge smile on her face.

"You've gotten far stronger, Sakura!" the sannin praised with a grin, "However, it takes more than one blow to win a battle! Now, again!" she ordered, not even waiting for a response as she herself charged head on.

* * *

She lay spread eagle, exhausted, on her bed, the mere memory of her fight with the sannin bringing aches and pains to her weary body. It was the single most strenuous battle the medi-nin had ever fought. Still, she knew that she had to get stronger... after all, she had to be able to keep up with Naruto when he came back...

_"2 years... 5 months... 27 days..." _she mused within her mind as her thoughts settled on Naruto again, _"how much longer are you going to be away... baka..."_

Using the little strength remaining in her body, she shifted her head on her pillow, looking to the picture of group 7 not long after it had been formed. Kakashi sensei was at the top... with Sakura herself standing right in front of him. Naruto, grinning his own Naruto grin, stood to her left in the photograph and to her right... with an I-so-don't-want-to-be-here-right-now scowl was Sasuke... his arms crossed, looking away from the group.

_"Sasuke..."_ she thought, feeling a pang in her heart as she was suddenly rushed by memories of the boy...

_"Just as I thought... I'm different from you guys..."_

_"Are you going to choose to be alone again!"_

_"I walk a different path than you guys..."_

_"On that day, you taught me that solitude is painful! I understand that so well right now!"_

_"I tried to think it was my path to do things we've done up until now..."_

_"I have family and I have friends... but if you're gone... to me... it'll be same as being alone!"_

_"The four of us did things together..." _

_"I... I love you so much!"_

_"but my heart decided on revenge in the end..."_

_"If you stay with me, I'll make sure you won't regret it! Every day will be fun! We'll definitely be happy!"_

_"That is my purpose in life."_

_"I'll do anything for you... so...please! Stay here!"_

_"From now on... a new path will open up for all of us..."_

_"I'll help you with your revenge. I'll do something! So please stay here! With me!"_

_"You really _are_ annoying..."_

_"If you can't stay... take me with you..."_

_"Sakura..."_

_"DON'T LEAVE!"_

_"Thank you..."_

The memories stung immensely... she had tried so hard to stop the dark boy. She even outright admitted her love for the Uchiha... but it wasn't a fairytale. Sasuke had said it himself... in the end, his heart decided on revenge. Sasuke was an avenger, and he would go to any lengths to achieve his vengance against Itachi. Naruto suddenly flowed into her mind, the dark haired ninja being placed aside in her mind. How many times had she done the exact same thing to him? How many times had she made Naruto think that she hated him, despised him...? How long had she made him suffer? She knew very well what it was like to be ignored, to have your heart trampled every day by the one you love... so why couldn't she see that in Naruto? How could he so easily see it in her...?

The girl began to cry in her bed. Her body was sore, her heart was sore, her very _soul_ was sore. Things were getting harder every day that he was gone. She ached for him to return, and on top of her normal aches and pains it was an incredible amount of stress to deal with. When would he return? How much longer did he plan to stay away from Konoha...?

She wanted to look away from the photo of team 7, but her body would not respond. She ached all over and could not move anymore... so she was forced to stare at the picture on her dresser... tears streaming down her face as she was attacked with memory after memory. How much more abuse could her heart take? She was lonely... so lonely... she needed someone to be there... she needed Naruto.

"Please come back soon... Naruto..."

* * *

The silver haired jounin let out a heavy sigh as he watched his student through her window. It was hard not to go over and comfort her, but he was under orders. Hatake Kakashi had been assigned to covert guard duty of Sakura again. It was his only mission besides training, as he and Gai were the only Jounins in all of Konoha who could actually stand a chance against Itachi or Orochimaru should they decide to attack.

What had happened to team 7? They were turning out just like his very own squad. All of them reminded him of his own team... Naruto mostly reminded him of Obito. The jounin reached up abscently to touch the cold steel of his forehead protector over his sharingan... Obito's Sharingan. His Uchiha teammate had sacrificed his life to save the jounin... would Naruto end up doing the same for Sasuke, who reminded him so much of his younger self?

He remembered how he had found Naruto, on the verge of death in the Valley of the End. How, looking at him, he was reminded of Obito's half crushed body. It was shattering. He could not have been more relieved when Naruto's eyes opened.

Kakashi remembered how Obito and himself had gotten into that situation in the first place. Rin had gotten kidnapped, and they had gotten into an argument to save her. Maybe if Rin didn't get kidnapped... the whole mess could have been avoided. Kakashi could see Rin inside of Sakura... so he made an oath to himself that he would protect Sakura while Naruto was gone. He promised himself that he would make sure that history would not repeat itself, no matter what...

* * *

His cloak and hair billowing gently in the evening wind, Uzumaki Naruto looked down over the peaceful village. It had been a long time since he had been here, but the place hadn't changed a single bit. He could see the academy, where he had grown and found the first person who had ever recognized him... Iruka. He could see his house from where he was, the old shabby building where he had restored his apartment, and (to his great delight) the Ichiraku ramen stand.

The blonde shinobi gave a happy and content sigh as he looked over his home. It was a strange and elating feeling to have been gone from a place of familiarity for so long and to finally return. He had thought that with all the evil glares and insults, he would never miss this place. The shinobi was proven wrong... Naruto only now understood how much he had missed this place.

"I guess people always miss the place they're most familiar with..." he said softly.

His voice had changed. The overall tone was relatively the same, only deepening slightly. The real change was the softness that his voice now held. When he was younger, he always used to be loud and annoying with a harsh sounding voice to match. Now his voice was softer and carried a gentleness to it, though by no means without passion. No, he still carried the passion in his voice from 2 years ago.

His voice was not the only thing that changed, however. His appearance had changed much as well. During his training, the boy had little time to keep his spiky blonde hair in order, much less cut it. It was getting pretty long now, his eyes were even hidden as the wind played with his grown hair. He had grown taller as well. No longer was he the little shrimp of a ninja that he used to be. To think, he was just under 15 years old and 5 feet 10 inches tall. Sure, he wasn't a giant of a man, but at least he wasn't 4 feet 9 inches anymore (Author's Note: Yes, Naruto is only 4 feet 9 inches... and for those of you who are curious, Naruto's birthday is October 10th... Sakura's is March 28th (My birthday), and Sasuke is July 23.).

His face was narrower, more defined. He seemed to have lost all of his baby fat. Due to his intense training, he was also lean. His arms were skulpted with muscle, and no longer the scrawny, weak excuse for arms that he previously had. The boy's taste in clothing had also changed much. Before, he used to wear an orange jumpsuit... quite an annoying looking gettup, not to mention he could be spotted from a mile away. He had outgrown that outfit long ago, and now sported a dark blue sleeveless jumpsuit. It was tightened for the upper body, but the pants were loosened and somewhat baggy. He had taken a lesson from Lee and Ino, and now wore his Konoha headband as a belt, and of course, he still wore his ninja slippers. Over this he wore a dark, forest green cloak, held together by a small chain just above the chest and just under the neck. The latch was none other than a miniature Konoha plate. The sleeves were long enough that all of his hands, now adorned by the same Konoha fingerless gloves that Kakashi wore, were covered by the cloth. This cloak came with a hood, and because of it's dark, natural color, made him that much harder to spot in any condition.

Leaning against the chimney that Naruto was standing on, the boy's master couldn't help but marvel at how much Naruto looked like his own original apprentice. It was astonishing... the boy was the spitting image of the fourth figure carved into the mountainside that overlooked Konohagakure.

"Oi Naruto... it's late, why don't we hit the sack and say hello to everyone tomorrow." The white haired sannin suggested.

For a minute, the legendary warrior thought that Naruto had refused to listen, or hadn't heard him. He made no motions whatsoever for a while. Finally, he gave a small nod.

"Yeah... let's get some rest." He said softly, and just like that the two of them disappeared.

* * *

The boy was anxious to meet up with all of his friends... especially Sakura... but business came first. Jiraiya had taken him to see the Godaime Hokage herself to 'report' on the 'mission' he had been sent on. When he had come to ask permission to leave the village, she said that it would be treated as an S-rank mission where he would recieve payment every month. Naruto didn't know how he would have gotten along without that money between food and Jiraiya's spending habits. He always wanted to waste his student's money, even though he had millions of ryo in his bank account. She was anxious to see Tsunade, who was an aunt of sorts to the blonde boy, so he couldn't help but be a little upset when he was denied access to her.

"What do ya mean we can't see her!" yelled Naruto incredulously.

"Tsunade-sama is in a meeting right now with some ninja who just returned from a mission," said one of the guards.

"I don't care if she's having a meeting with the spirits of the other four Hokages! Tell that old hag that someone's here to see her!" he yelled, heavily annoyed.

Jiraiya sighed at his student's choice of words,

_"Some things never change I guess..."_ mused the old man as he counted down the seconds to Tsunade's arrival... she was just like a clock to him, or rather a ticking time bomb... yes, that would be a more appropriate term, _"3... 2... 1..."_

"WHO DARES CA---" she froze mid-sentence as she saw the handsome young man before her... his form had changed somewhat, and he wasn't dressed the same as he usually was... but there was no mistaking those big, bright blue eyes, "Naruto!"

"What?" came a voice from inside the room. It sounded oddly familiar to the blonde boy.

As he was scooped up into a tight hug, he could see over the Hokage's shoulder that the voice belonged to none other than Nara Shikamaru. He was sporting his well-earned chuunin flack jacket.

"Hey there, long time no see..." he said in his usual lazy tone, but he held a smirk on his face and a small light in his eyes.

Behind the chuunin stood three other ninja, obviously the squad that he had been assigned for this particular mission. Rock Lee hadn't changed much at all over the 2 years... he had grown a little and his face had thinned out much like Naruto's had, but Rock Lee was still Rock Lee, no matter how you cut it. He was still dressed in his green... thing... he still had his hair shaped in a bob, and he still had those ridiculously thick eyebrows.

"It's good to see you back in Konoha, Naruto-kun." He said in his usual polite fashion.

Another of the ninjas behind Shikamaru was none other than Hyuuga Hinata. She had filled out a bit over the years that Naruto had been gone, and now you could really tell, as she no longer wore her pink jacket, settling for the fishnet longsleeves and tanktop underneath. Her milky white eyes were lit with happiness as she gazed upon Naruto. She still carried an admiration for him, which was obvious... but it was also obvious that she had given up her crush on him. She no longer blushed heavily by merely looking at him, and seemed to hold herself with much more confidence.

"Welcome back... Naruto-kun..." she said in her soft, gentle voice, a small but confident smile on her lips.

The last person in the group was regarding Naruto with a smile... and tears were beginning to stream down her face... out of everyone in the room, she was probably the one person that missed him the most: Haruno Sakura.

* * *

Sakura stared on at Naruto, who was currently being crushed by her sensei. Today she was wearing the clothes that she used to train with Tsunade, which were a lot like the clothes that the Fifth used to wear when she was training as a child. A simple dark pink gi with a black sash, and skin-tight black capris. She was in no means dressed properly for the occassion. She had always imagined that she'd be in one of her dresses when he came back, clean and ready to greet him with a smile. Right now she had just gotten back from a mission, she was dirty, sweaty, and had been whisked away in the middle of her training so was still stuck in her training clothes. It wasn't at all how she had planned it... but she didn't feel any anger or resentment that her plans weren't achieved. That was drowned out by the overwhelming joy of having him back.

"Ah.. AH! Tsunade...baa...chan... you're crushing me...!" Naruto let out as small cracks filled the room.

The fifth hokage gave a small laugh and finally let go of the young man.

"Well," he said as he let out a sigh of relief, "at least my back feels better now."

Grinning broadly, she gave the teen a once over, smiling at what she saw and felt. She could actually feel less chakra emanting from him than when he left. He gave off the signals of nothing more than a normal human at the moment, which was a good sign. He had learned to mask his chakra signal quite well. She could also see that he had filled out considerably, and was now well-muscled and lean instead of scrawny like he used to be.

"My my, you've grown into a handsome young man now haven't you? You'll have to beat the women off with a stick!" she said approvingly, causing Naruto to blush somewhat.

His embarassment disappeared though, as he saw the tears starting to spill down a certain pink-haired girl's face. He gave a soft smile and walked right past Tsunade and all the others to the pink-haired kunoichi. No one talked at all, simply watching. This was a matter best left between them, after all.

"Heh, hey Sakura-chan" he said with a grin, "is it really so bad to see me again that you have to cry?" he asked teasingly, "I mean come on, I've only been in front of you for what... all of 30 seconds?"

Sakura smiled and gave out a small giggle, before throwing her arms around the boy in front of her, who now stood a full two inches above her. She buried her head into his shoulder and pulled herself close to him.

"I... I missed you so much Naruto-kun!" she said finally as she hugged him even tighter.

"I... did too Sakura-chan... but you're... crushing me!" Naruto let out. He was indeed being crushed by the awesome strength she had picked up from her training. She made a small noise of suprise and let go quickly, "Oh! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to--"

"Geez..." said Shikamaru with a small smirk, "Like teacher like student I guess..."

"I couldn't agree more..." said Naruto, gently rubbing the the spot on the side of his torso where her right arm had been.

That brought out a laugh from everyone. Sakura smiled and tried again, this time gently wrapping her arms around the boy and hugging him close to her. The teen wrapped his arms around her in return, pulling her close as she let her chin rest on his shoulder.

"2 years...6 months... and 7 days Naruto-kun..." she said softly, "that's how long I've been waiting to do this."

The boy in question blushed and smirked lightly, "Sorry to keep you waiting, Sakura-chan..."

"This calls for celebration!" said Lee suddenly, "how about we gather all of the old gang and have a little party to celebrate Naruto-kun's return!"

"That's a great idea, Lee-kun!" interjected Hinata, "we can all head off to Ichiraku Ramen and hang out! I don't think any of us have missions until Monday"

"More than that," said Tsunade with a grin, "All of the rookie nine get a week off to celebrate Naruto's return."

"Wow! Really!" exclaimed Sakura, who was still half in Naruto's arms, "does that mean that--"

"Yes, Sakura, that means that you don't have to train for a week either..."

Sakura smiled in relief. She was getting sick of all the training sessions, and she hadn't had a single day off from training ever since Naruto left. She was already getting up to the level of Kabuto, or so Godaime Hokage said. To have a week off would feel a little strange, but she was ready to welcome it with open arms.

"We'll go gather everyone else," said Hinata to Sakura and Naruto, "Sakura-san, why don't you show Naruto-kun everything that's changed, and we'll meet up with you at the Ichiraku Ramen stand in about an hour."

Sakura gave a nod, smiling happily, "Sure, that's fine."

* * *

Naruto and Sakura walked down the dirt roads of Konoha, occassionally stopping when Naruto spotted something that had changed.

Sakura was still overwhelmed that he had actually returned. Uzumaki Naruto had returned to Konoha, and she no longer had to count the days until his return. She no longer had to lay awake for long hours at night, wondering if he was okay, what he was doing, how his training was coming. Naruto was home...

"Sakura-chan...?" asked the blonde boy, noticing the strange look on Sakura's face, "what's wrong?"

Sakura shook her head lightly, still smiling, "Nothing... let's keep going."

They walked in silence for a bit, neither of them really knowing what to say to each other anymore. As they walked, Sakura's lips curled into a small smile.

"Naruto-kun...?" she asked to get his attention.

"Hm?" he replied lazily, not even looking down to her.

"Welcome home... Naruto-kun..." she said with a bright smile.

He smiled back softly, "Thanks..."

* * *

A/N: Agh, that chapter was a bit long... and it took me some time to write... anyway... yeah, my birthday falls on the same day as Sakura's, and it's coming up fast... only a few more days until that time. I want to apologize again for being out for so long... again, the feel of waiting was important for this chapter... it's almost like starting a second season or whatever. Anyway, I'll be trying to update frequently again, now that I don't have any type of school to deal with. Thanks for all of you who waited so patiently for this chapter! 


	11. Catching Up

A/N: Hehe, thanks for all the reviews guys, I really appreciate them. Sorry to some of you, but I kind of lost track of the canon... though, after doing some research, I'm forced to yield to all your complaints of Naruto's full power not being revealed in the Valley of the End... however, I have no intention of changing that portion of the story. I'll put an explanation into the story. I researched a bit more of the canon... well, the parts that mattered to me anyway. I'd like you all to note that from Chapter 10 and on, there will probably be nothing that follows canon, not only because I don't have access to it, but also because this is my own story and there's nothing that says I have to completely follow the canon. Besides, I'm still keeping the characters the way they are, just putting them in different situations. Please don't mistake this for AU... I'm sick of people saying this is one of the best AU out there because to me AU means that it no longer takes place in the world of Naruto, which this story still does. I'd appreciate it if I was taken outta that Naruto AU C2 . Oh yeah, thank those of you who wished me a happy birthday! It was indeed a blast. Thanks to all of you! My loyal fans and fangirls! You all give me bragging rights to my friends haha. Some of my buddies don't believe I have fangirls :p. Anyway, I've rambled on long enough! I know you're all dying to read the next chapter, so don't allow me to keep you waiting anymore ; Oh yeah, before I forget... one of my readers told me it was against rules to post replies to reviews in the opening author's notes so... I can't really do that anymore ;; Sorry for those of you who actually looked foward to it.

* * *

**Promise of a Lifetime**  
**Chapter 11: Catching Up**

"Haha! Well if it ain't Uzumaki Naruto!"

"It's good to see you back in Konoha, Uzumaki..."

"Naruto! You're back in Konoha finally! We need to celebrate! 10 orders of barbeque pork ramen please!"

"Wow, Naruto is that really you? You've grown so much."

"Hehe, hey, it looks like you aren't a shrimp of a ninja anymore huh?"

"...Welcome back..."

"Kiba! Neji! Chouji! Tenten! Ino! Shino! Wow, you all came to see me?" he asked with a grin. Honestly he wasn't expecting _everyone_ to come. He didn't know Tenten or Ino too well... but Kiba, Neji, and Chouji were always a welcome sight.

The beastmaster Kiba had actually grown quite a bit since Naruto was away, and was actually taller than him by an inch or two. Besides that, he was still the same old Kiba. He still wore that jacket with the fuzzy cuffs and hood, but today he had the hood down and the jacket unzipped, revealing his now medium-length shaggy hair and plates of armor over his stomach and chest. No, Kiba hadn't changed much at all, it was Akamaru who was worth attention. He was no longer the tiny white puppy of old. No, Akamaru had grown quite large over the three years, and was already nearing a fully-grown dog. His fur seemed to have gotten wilder and his snout narrower. The dog was now taking on a wolfish appearance.

"Wow Kiba, it looks like I'm not the only one that's grown, you and Akamaru are huge!"

"Naturally," chuckled Kiba with a shrug, "ya didn't expect me to just roll over and be beaten by you now did ya?"

Naruto give a small laugh of his own, "Guess not."

Hyuuga Neji, out of all of them, had probably changed the most. He actually carried mirth in those milky white eyes of his, and was actually smiling! He had grown about the same size as Naruto had, and he was sporting the traditional black Hyuuga garb, over which he wore an open chuunin jacket. His hair had also been cut, and was now merely to his shoulder blades. He was by no means a fun adict now, but he was indeed smiling and seemed very relaxed and open, sitting on one of the stools in the ramen shop.

"Aww man! You got to chuunin before me! So I beat you for nothing in the tournament?" prodded Naruto, a little bummed.

"Relax Naruto, I'm sure you'll get yours soon enough... and this isn't a chuunin jacket, it's a jounin jacket," he said with a smirk, making Naruto's jaw drop.

"JOUNIN? You're telling me I was gone for three years and you went out and made JOUNIN?"

"Hehe, come on Naruto, settle down a bit will ya? Like Neji said, you should be getting yours soon enough if what we heard about your training was true." came the voice of Tenten, someone Naruto rarely interacted with.

She had changed little, maybe the least out of all of them. She wore pretty much the same clothing that she always used to wear, the only difference being that she now opted to let her hair down, at least for today. It was only shoulder length, but she looked far prettier with her hair down like it was. She held a soft smile on her face as she regarded Naruto. The shinobi in question chuckled a bit and grinned sheepishly.

"Yeah I guess you're right Tenten. Still, I can't believe that someone made JOUNIN while I was away. Here I was wanting to become one of the first Jounin." Said Naruto with a sigh, "Ah well, can't let that get me down."

_"He looks really cute now, I'm amazed!" _ thought the girl with an internal giggle as she eyed the grown Naruto. He had definitely changed a lot, and was far from boyish in looks.

"Chouji! Slow down, you'll choke again!" came the yell of the only other blonde in the room, Yamanaka Ino who, at times, could be just as loud and annoying as the Naruto of old.

She had changed little over the years as well. Naruto could see that she was letting her hair grow out again, as it was already between her shoulder blades. Other than that, she had grown little, now one of the shorter people in the room. She was also the only one not wearing any ninja gear, just a blue tee shirt and some black shorts.

"Do you want to go to the hospital on Naruto's return day!" She yelled at Chouji, who was already gobbling up his 7th bowl of ramen from the shop.

Chouji had changed along with everyone else. He actually seemed just a bit thinner than way back when and seemed to have undergone a taste change in color rather than physical attributes. Though he still had the bandages wrapped around various parts of his body, he had changed his outer shirt and trousers into a black color and his long scarf was now a dark red. Also, he had gotten rid of the daiper style bandana on his head in favor of a normal one. He had grown considerably over the years but was still shorter than Naruto.

"on' orrie ee-oh! Ahwootoe ah-an't eynd!" he spouted out through a mouthfull of noodles, which made Naruto laugh, remembering when he used to do such things, but just as he finished he started coughing and sputtering.

"She's right... you shouldn't east so fast..." said Shino, silent as always. Out of everyone there, Shino was the only one who hadn't changed at all. He still wore his high-collared jacket, still had those shades perpetually glued to his face, and was still silent and creepy as always.

"Hey! Come on now, don't ruin the party by choking to death on us!" said Kiba as he began to pat his fellow ninja hard on the back.

Finally, Chouji managed to swallow. He grinned sheepishly and scratched the back of his head, giving an awkward laugh, "Sorry, I only ate 2 bowls of cereal for breakfast this morning."

Everyone shared a small laugh at Chouji's antics, save for Ino who just shook her head. She couldn't hide the small smirk on her lips though.

Just then Lee, Hinata, and Shikamaru walked into the ramen shop.

"It looks like we're all present and accounted for!" said Lee with a satisfied nod as he looked around.

"Yeah, that's everyone alright..." agreed Shikamaru, for once not mentioning just how troubling this all was.

"Well then!" said Sakura suddenly. She had a bright smile on her face, "Let's all show Naruto just how much he's been missing!"

"All right!" called Ayame who, aside from letting her hair grow out, had not changed one bit, "What will all of you be having today?"

* * *

The sound of Rock Lee on the microphone echoed throughout the village, still as night. It was one o'clock in the morning and all of them were still out partying. They had gone to quite a few places together that day. Starting at Ichiraku Ramen, then to go and catch a movie, then off around town to see the various sights and catch up with each other late into the night, and now they were at the karaoke bar, all of them nearing exhaustion from the fun-filled day. 

Naruto had learned a lot that night. Besides Neji making jounin, Shino had made chuunin. He had said that he preferred to wear the flak jacket on missions only for reasons that he would not explain. Everyone else remained a genin, however. Most of them actually skipped out. Some of them waited to fight the new and improved Naruto in the exams, and others just simply couldn't imagine becoming a chuunin without Konoha's number one noisy ninja there.

Ino was actually on leave because of a few shattered ribs, she had shown Naruto the bandages under her shirt when he asked why she wasn't in her ninja gear like everyone else.. The breaks were far too close to her lungs and heart for chakra healing, and dealing with lungs was difficult enough as it was. Naruto had picked up, among other things, a bit about human anatomy on his travels. The lungs are like bubble wrap and are quite sensitive. A very weak chakra scalpel is required to operate without damaging the lungs, but the chakra required to mend a bone would cause the lining of the lung to pop and ultimately kill the blonde girl, so all they could do was let it heal naturally.

In a startling turn of events, Naruto learned that Kiba was actually dating Ayame, the young waitress at Ichiraku Ramen. Naruto's jaw dropped when he heard the news. He had never pictured the two together. Hell, he couldn't imagine anyone being attatched to that guy who always smelled of dogs.

Hinata had been training diligently with Neji each and every day and, according to a whisper from Neji later, she was actually nearing his level. He heard stories about times where they found her passed out in the middle of the forest after training for hours on end. The blond ninja could only smile as he remembered how he did that in his younger days, and even these days sometimes.

When Neji wasn't training with Hinata, he was usually off leading a mission with Lee and Tenten, with the fourth member of their squad usually being someone most suited for the job. The three of them had been bogged down with missions for the better part of three months now, and were quite glad for a reprieve from everything. It was the same with Shikamaru and Chouji. Due to Shikamaru's brilliant tactics, he was in high demand for leading missions. He had actually tried for jounin once, but he wasn't strong enough. Jounin's not only had to have the intellect, but the drive, ability of leadership, and strength of a true ninja.

Out of all of them, Sakura was the only one who had gone on a minimal amount of missions over the years. She had been kept back for the most part to study under her master, the medical genius Tsunade. There was talk of her healing abilities being near that, if not on par with, those of Tsunade herself these days, much to the disappointment of Tsunade. She had been hoping that Sakura would have surpassed her already, as Kabuto actually surpassed the Hokage when she was in her prime. She had picked up the monstrous strength of her sensei as well. She was becoming one of the most beautiful women in Konoha, and it was a common sight to see some guy who had tried to ask her out flying down the street at incredible speeds.

The blonde nin had indeed learned much about his friends that night, and had indeed had a lot of fun, but now the party was winding down. As late as they had partied, even teenagers had limits. Everyone was starting to get tired and mellowed out. Naruto could actually see how sluggish their movements had become. He was thankful that Tsunade had decided to give them the week off. Had they gone into a combat situation in this state, the chances of them being killed would be tripled.

"Well!" declared Kiba as he stretched his arms out, letting out a long yawn, "I think it's time we called it a night guys."

Lee, who had just finished singing, put the microphone back on the stand and let out his own yawn, "Yes, I think we've spent enough energy for one night, we can always celebrate Naruto-kun's return some more tomorrow. We do have the entire week off."

Everyone murmured their agreement somewhat tiredly and said their goodbyes to each other as they left the karaoke booth they had rented out. All of them walked off their seperate ways, waving and calling their goodbyes softly in the silence of the late night. Or rather the early morning. Naruto smiled as he watched them all go. It truly was good to be home again.

"Hey, Naruto-kun...?" asked Sakura. She was the only one who hadn't walked off.

He blinked a little in suprise and turned to face the girl. He didn't even realize she left.

"Wow I really must be tired. I didn't even notice you didn't leave, Sakura-chan" he told her with a small chuckle, "You suprised me."

Sakura smiled and let out a soft, tired giggle. She was weary and drowsy from the events of that night piled on top of the mission she had come back from. It was a glorious night, one that she didn't want to end but she was at her limit. There was only so much a human could do before they got tired.

"Why don't we walk together, your place is on the way to mine from here, right?" she asked with a small smile.

"Umm..." Naruto paused for a second, and Sakura was actually thinking that he was considering declining, "Hey yeah! You're right, it is!"

Sakura's body had tensed up all on it's own, and she visibly relaxed when she heard that he was only wondering if what she had said was true. Again she let out a soft giggle.

"Wow, you've been away for way too long, Naruto-kun." she said, "come on, let's go home."

Naruto nodded and together they started walking. As they did, Sakura took another moment to look over the boy that she had missed so much. He was becoming a fine man, and she was glad to see that his taste had changed into something a bit easier on the eyes. She took a moment to note how much cuter he looked with his headband off, his lengthened bangs swaying gently in the night breeze. She also liked the effect the cloak had on him. The giant sleeves and back which billowed gently in the wind. She couldn't see his arms or hands at all.

"Err... is there something wrong with me Sakura-chan?" he asked as he caught her staring at him. Immediately he began to look over his form for anything wrong. Maybe a stain from the ramen or his hair was all messed up.

"No," she said, shaking her head lightly, "just looking at how much you've changed."

"Oh," the blonde teen grinned lightly, "You know... you've changed a lot too."

"Really?"

"Yeah, you've grown a bit. You look a little more womanly than before and you carry yourself differently, with a whole lot more confidence and strength. You just seem... I don't know, maybe like you believe in yourself more?" he offered, "But..."

Sakura blinked, regarding Naruto with a bit of curiosity. Naruto noticed all of that? The same Naruto who didn't know what the chakra circulatory system was until he hit the chuunin exams? The same Naruto who didn't realize that he needed to cheat in order to get through the first test of said exam? She was impressed at what he had observed in her, and at the same time flattered. She was more womanly! Someone finally took notice! That 'but' on the end, had her a bit nervous though... was there a negative change as well?

"But what...?" she asked as they walked. Naruto turned away from her, just looking down the road which they walked.

"But you're all still you." he stated simply, "you're still the same Sakura-chan on the inside. You've changed and you haven't changed at all at the same time."

"You know..." Sakura said, smirking, after a few seconds, "That's suprisingly deep of you, makes me wonder just what kind of training you went through."

The shinobi gave a small chuckle, "Oh it was Hell... day in and day out of physical, chakra, mental, and emotional strain just to become stronger. It was all worth it in the end though, I think I'm far stronger than before."

The girl looked up at him with a smile. Then it hit her all at once. The girl stopped as she remembered the sadness she had gone through of not seeing him day in and day out. She remembered the aches and pains and sleepless nights. She had been so caught up in the joy of having him back that she couldn't react properly. It was all so surreal. It hit her like a ton of bricks that this was _real_. Naruto was actually home. He had returned and he was solid, real, existant... not just a memory or a figment of her imagination but really standing there.

"Hm..?" came the voice of the nin as he turned to face her as she stopped, "Is something wrong, Sakura-chan?"

She was silent for a moment, just looking at him, regarding him carefully, subconsciously double checking to see if he was real. When her mind and heart were both satisfied she raced foward, hugging him tightly for the second time that day, burying her head into his now sculpted chest.

Naruto was pushed back slightly, not expecting the hug at all. He almost stumbled, but he caught himself and looked down at the pink haired girl against him in suprise. Hadn't she already done this once before? Not one to keep his thoughts to himself, even after all of his trainng, he gave a soft chuckle.

"Deja vu." he said, smiling, "I think we've done this once already today, right?"

"Idiot..." came the muffled reply, along with a small giggle before she pulled her face out of his chest and looked up at him, arms still wrapped around him as she rested her head in the crook of his neck, "This is real..."

Naruto smiled down at her and gently wrapped his arms around the girl. She had really missed him so much. Who could blame her? He was the only other member of team 7 left besides Kakashi, and with all the S-rank missions that he had lined up it was difficult to get even a word in edgewise. He was also the only real link that she had left with... A pang shot through the blondes heart as he was reminded of _him_. All of a sudden he remembered why exactly the girl would want to be close to him. He knew that all she wanted was to be close to _him_... the one who had gone down the road of darkness.

He let his arms fall from her as she pulled away from him. Her bright green eyes looked up into his own with an unreadable expression. He couldn't tell what she was thinking as she stared into his eyes at all. She was still smiling.

"I can't... believe that you're really back to Konoha... I can't believe that you're real... I've missed you so much, and I thought about you every day and every night." said the pink-haired girl, "And now you're finally here, back home..."

He stayed quiet as he looked at her, silently masking his pain as he looked straight into her eyes. What she had said stunned him. She thought about him every day and night? Sasuke must have been entwined in there somewhere. He knew and accepted that Haruno Sakura would never love him.

In all honesty, the girl had forgotten that the dark-haired one even existed. She had completely forgotten about the third member of team 7, and in this moment all that even mattered was the blonde ninja standing right in front of her. She found herself blushing under his gaze and looking away from him to her feet... the ground... his feet... anywhere but his piercing gaze.

"Ummm, come on, let's get home, it's really late and umm... I'm still really tired." she said quickly and began walking again, leaving Naruto with no choice but to follow.

* * *

Sakura gasped as Naruto opened the door to his apartment. Burned and ravaged, everything was completely destroyed. There were holes in the cieling and large pieces of wood missing from the walls. All of his possessions, which hadn't been much since he had yet to return what was in his backpack to their rightful places, where in a small pile on the floor, burned. Carved into the wall right across from the doorway was a hastily carved, slightly singed message: 

'GO AWAY DEMON BASTARD! YOU DON'T BELONG HERE!'

Naruto sighed and walked into his shambled apartment, splintered wood from the window coverings crunching under his ninja shoes.

"Not again..." said the blonde boy as he looked through the pile of his belongings which had been burned, looking for anything that might have had value to him, "I guess it can't be helped when I'm away for so long."

The pink haired girl could feel a huge pang of sadness shoot through her heart as she watched Naruto so casually sift through the burned material. He watched as he pulled out some silverware and only slightly chipped plates as well as a pair of bone chopsticks which had somehow survived the fire. She couldn't move, not only the scenery, but Naruto's calm disposition towards it shocked her to the core.

"Again...?" she finally asked as she regained a bit of herself, "this... this has happened before?"

"Hm?" Naruto looked over his shoulder as he began cleaning up the mess, almost as if expecting her to have left, "This...? It usually happens four or five times a year."

Sakura felt as if her heart were ready to collapse. Four or five times a year? It was no wonder he was eating ramen all the time, trying to get people to treat him to some ramen. With all the repairs he had to do, it was a wonder that he got along by himself at all. He was sweeping up the ash and splintered wood all over the floor into one central pile.

_"What kind of... people would do something like this...?" _she thought as she watched him, paralyzed in sadness, anger, and pity, _"How dare they!"_

Finally, she regained enough composure to place a hand on Naruto's arm, who was busy sweeping, his back to her. He tensed slightly and turned to face her with that grin of his. She was starting to be able to see through them. She could almost see through those well-practiced grins. The kunoichi could tell that he was hurting inside, that he was tired and sad of being hated for something he had no means to change.

The blonde nin blinked at her, partially confused. She could feel her chest tighten as she read his eyes. Those infinite blue abyss' that silently asked her why she was still there. She realized that he had become so used to being uncared for that he hardly recognized a random act of kindness, despite him handing them out all the time.

"Come on Naruto-kun," she said gently, "we'll stay somewhere else tonight, maybe at my place or something... I can't leave you here like this."

For a moment he looked suprised, before he smiled a real smile. The first one that he had given her in over 2 and a half years. Was something that seemed so naturally right to her so very rare to him? That the gesture alone could bring a true smile to his lips? The thought alone almost brought tears to the pink-haired girl's eyes.

"Thanks for the offer Sakura-chan, but I know that your mom can't stand me, and wouldn't be very happy about you spending any nights with me at all. Not to mention what the rest of the village would think." He said with a meek smile, "I'll be fine here, it won't take too long to clean this place up."

Sakura frowned at her teammate. His arguments made sense, but they were all quite hard to swallow. Her mother had never liked Sakura being in a team with Naruto. She always seemed suspicious about the boy. Sakura's mother would most likely never concede to letting the demon container into her home, much less let Sakura spend the night with him. Still... he couldn't leave him like this. Did he even have a bed to sleep in anymore?

Naruto had completely ignored her as he checked his bedroom, only to confirm Sakura's fears. The room was covered in burn marks and utterly bare. The bed itself was gone, obviously taken before the fire.

"How can... how can anybody do something like this!" She yelled, shaking her head, "It's... it's cruel and.. and--"

"I don't blame them." said Naruto before she could finish, startling her.

"Don't blame them...? How could you not blame them? You're twice the ninja of more than half the people in this village! Your kind and you always help people everyone as much as you can! You're always smiling and laughing and making people feel good, you don't deserve this!" the girl ranted as she ran forth to hug the blonde nin again. If this was what Naruto had grown up with, it was high time that he got his share of affection.

The blonde nin scoffed, feeling her face buried against his back. It was an odd sensation. He had been hugged more times today than his first 12 years of growing up. He was glad that Sakura was showing more affection for him, he loved it that she seemed to actually give a damn about him now. However, the fact that this affection would not grow... the fact that with Sasuke's return, she would not have time for him... kept him from opening up. It kept him from hugging her in return, he could do no more than offer a smirk or his practiced grin.

"I don't blame them," he repeated, "If you saw the thing that killed your friends... family... lovers... even trapped, you would want revenge, even if you had to damage it's cage to do it."

"Dammit Naruto this is different! You're not a cage! You're a living, breathing human being with... with feelings and emotions! How can you not mind this! It's... unforgivable... yet you forgive it like it was nothing!" She yelled as she buried her face deeper into his dark, forest green cloak, starting to cry.

The kunoichi at least wanted him to acknowledge that it was wrong, what the villagers were doing to him. It hurt to think that he was used to it, it hurt to think that for almost the past 16 years, Naruto had been tormented in this way. She couldn't even begin to imagine what it would be like for every single person in all of Konoha to hate her for 12 years. 12 years before even a single friend. The sound of him chuckling made her angry inside... and it hurt... it was such common practice that he could laugh it off. How had she been next to him all this time and only figured out now?

"Why are you laughing! It isn't funny!" She screamed, clinging to his cloak tightly.

Why was she so affected by this...? Why was she so heavily and deeply hurt for Naruto having to go through all of that? Why was it that she was spilling tears... clinging to him as if he would fade away into nothing if she let go? She didn't know, she couldn't think straight, she just knew that she wanted Naruto to be happy, and it upset her when he accepted something saddening.

"First of all... you're getting so worked up over this it's funny." he said as he pried her away enough so that he could turn around in her arms, "Second of all... I've had this debate inside my own head for years. I know it isn't right, but there's really nothing I can do about it right now. That's why I'm trying to become Hokage, so that everyone will accept me, take notice of me, and quit doing things like this... until then this is the best I can do..." he explained, offering her one of his trademark grins.

Sakura couldn't help but admire his strength. Once long ago, someone had taught her that being alone was difficult, the most painful thing that you could go through. The blonde nin in front of her had not only been alone, but hated for practically all his life. It would have mentally destroyed a lesser man, like it destroyed Gaara of the Sand. Yet here Naruto was, ready to continue pursuing his dream, despite being amidst the ashes of his home, burned by the very people he wanted to be in the good graces of.

Finally she pulled away from him, drying her eyes. She blushed a little and looked down. She didn't know what had come over her but it was slowly fading away. Again, Naruto was right. There wasn't really anything he _could_ do to stop this. It hurt to accept but it made sense. The hurt was muted out with the certainty of him becoming Hokage, however. After all that Naruto had been through, after how much he had grown, improved, and matured, there was no one more worthy within the village. He would be Hokage for sure.

"You're not staying here tonight," she said softly, but at the same time finally, "You're going to stay with me at my house tonight and that's final... I don't care what you, my mom, or the god damned village thinks, that's what's going to happen.

Naruto gave a nervous chuckle, "Yes ma'am!" he said in a half joking, half nervous tone.

Inside of his head a deep sigh resounded,

**"Kid... you'd better be careful..." **came the sleepy voice of Kyuubi, who had been napping ever since he had returned to Konoha, **"I injured this girl's father gravely."**

Nope, the blonde nin did not look foward to meeting Haruno-san, then again, what boy ever looked foward to meeting a girl's parents?

* * *

A/N: Eesh, huge lag time between chapters.. and this one kind of sucked towards the end I think. Anyway, same deal, give lots of reviews! Sorry this wasn't out sooner! In the next chapter you can expect to see Mrs. Haruno make her appearance obviously, as well as some other goodies! Thank you all for reading, my minions! My friends...! My raging fangirls! (the fangirls get their own shout out because... well... I'm still psyched I got fangirls XD) I'll try to update a bit faster next time... unless you prefer the wait? I noticed that if I take my time on em', they come out a little better. I dunno, leave your preference in your review! 


	12. Old Friends and Discovered Feelings

A/N: Hey everyone! After many death threats by people with shotguns, complaints that me keeping you all waiting is a travesty, and a crap ton of reviews, I figure it's time for me to update again. Sorry to keep you all waiting for so long. In my defense, however, it's beena pretty rough month for me ;. My mother got into a car accident, I got extremely sick again and missed a crap ton of school so I have to deal with all the makeup work, my teacher's decided that the makeup work wasn't enough and gave us all extremely difficult projects to complete, I caught the Megatokyo bug (I just finished reading it a few days ago), one of the only people to show affection to me just for me being me ditched and I don't know where the Hell she is, I'm having serious conflicts with several of my closest friends, my parents have been riding me hard about my chores, I've made several new enemies, and in-between all of that, I went to go and find every single little secret in Kingdom Hearts 2 just so that I could keep myself sane. -takes a deep breath- So anyway, despite all this, I'm back and writing you your story! Thank God summer's just around the bend... then I can get back to writing a chapter every day. Oh and a quick note before I get to the actual story. I've recieved a request for the names of the new techniques Naruto keeps inventing. From now on I'll put translations at the bottom of the page, for now, here are all the translations of the techniques that have already appeared in this fanfiction:

**Hiden Aiton: Sakura Kekkai no Jutsu** Hidden Love Style: Cherry Blossom Barrier Technique

**Shugoken ** Guardian Fist

**Hiden Aiton Ougi: Shugotenshi no Jutsu ** Hidden Love Style: Guardian Angel Technique.

Well then, without further ado, it's time for the next installment of...

* * *

**Promise of a Lifetime  
Chapter 12: Old Friends and Discovered Feelings**

"Sakura-chan... I got a bad feeling ---" started the blonde shinobi, but his pink-haired companion cut him off quickly.

"Don't be so tense Naruto-kun, It's not like she's gonna slice your head off!" she joked with a small giggle, "My mom can be pretty mean sometimes but not _that_ mean, it won't be so bad!"

The blonde boy hung his head in defeat. There was no way that he was going to get out of this, was there? He could see the whole ordeal clearly in his head: First, Haruno-san would point at him, speechless and shaking somewhat. She would call the boy a monster and ask how dare he set foot in her house. Then, Haruno-san would tell Sakura never to see him again and that she's going to request a team change from the Hokage immediately. After all, the thing inside of his belly had put her husband into a coma, and he was still getting treated off in some foreign land.

**"Well if that fool didn't try to stab me in the toe with a wakizashi, then he might not be there today," **snorted said thing inside of his belly.

_"Not now, Kyuubi... go back to sleep or something, I need to be fully prepared to deal with Sakura-chan's mother... I haven't dealt with any dirty glares at all for almost three years." _thought Naruto, knowing that the fox could read his surface thoughts. He heard a long, low yawn from the fox, practically feeling the demon curl up and close it's eyes.

**"Fine, fine... wake me if you get stabbed or punched or something..." **said the fox.

It had taken an incredible amount of time, but the fox mellowed out to Naruto. The demon actually respected Naruto's determination and guts, especially when he went without the fox's chakra for as long as he did. Kyuubi no Kitsune could actually admit that Naruto was strong... still not quite what the Yondaime had been, but he was approaching that level at an astonishing rate. Wtih Kyuubi's power, he was actually above and beyond the legendary sannin, and maybe even beyond he Yondaime's level as well.. he didn't know what effect pumping all of his power into the boy would have now.

Back when the boy was fighting his wayward friend, Kyuubi had desperately pumped all of his power into him. The fox was trapped, but self-preservation was a basic instinct to the caged disaster. The demon was both amused and sorely disappointed that after releasing every last ounce of chakra to the kid, that only that meager amount of power emerged. The fox supposed it had something to do with the seal on his stomach filtering the chakra. The bars in his cage had gotten wider, however... he could now fit an entire arm through it. The nine-tailed fox figured the seal would allow him to take more and more of his own power as he grew able to handle it... so even after pumping out all of his chakra, there was only a very small and limited effect. The kitsune, therefore, was uncertain how such a power boost would affect the kid.

**_"Keh..." _**thought the fox as it relaxed, **_"That damned kid makes me think too much."_**

Naruto fidgeted uncontrollably as they reached her house. This was finally it... Sakura's mom would chase him out, and probably pull Sakura from team 7... parents did have the right to pull their children from any team. He was going to be alone agian... just when Sakura was starting to see him as more than loud and annoying, too...

"Come on Naruto... it won't be that bad... my mother is a nice person, and if she goes mean, I won't let anything happen..." she reassured him, patting him gently on the shoulder, "she _is_ my mother... I think I know how to handle her."

Naruto gave an appreciative smile to Sakura and nodded as she opened the door. He closed his eyes, too afraid to look into that evil glare of loathing. He just wanted it all to end quickly. As expected, he heard a gasp, and there was a bit of silence, before Sakura started speaking.

"Mom this is--"

"Sakura! Where have you--! Naruto!" came the voice of her mother, just as he expected... she was so upset about his arrival that scolding Sakura for being out so late was lost from her mind...

_"Did she just call me by my name? Not 'demon' or 'monster' or anything like that? Wait... I know that voice..." _he opened his eyes to confirm his suspicions.

Standing a little aways from him, right in front of the sink was a pretty short woman... not a whole lot taller than Sakura actually, with long, vibrant pink hair with no signs of greying at all. She wore a crimson summer dress as well as a white apron, and her hair was done up into a quick ponytail... she was almost just as he remembered.

"Hana-san!" exclaimed Naruto, pointing at the woman, who immediately hurried over and took Naruto into her arms.

Sakura stood there in shock, watching her mother smother her teammate with a hug. Naruto hugged back fondly, letting out some laughs before finally letting go. Haruno Hana began to fuss over Naruto like he was one of her own children.

"Wow, you've grown into quite the handsome young man," she said as she eyed him over, "I do hope everything has been going well for you."

"Actually yeah it has. I just got home from a two and a half year training trip the last night. Sakura-chan here actually invited me over to spend the night over here... seeing as... well... _they_ got to my apartment again." Naruto explained with a smile, "I was so nervous... wow, I didn't know you were Sakura-chan's mom!"

"Wait... Naruto you know my mom...? Mom, you know Naruto...? What's going on?" she asked, utterly confused, "and how can you not know she's my mom! We're the only two with pink hair in this entire village!"

"Hehe... I never was good at catching onto thinks, Sakura-chan, sorry about that" he muttered, scratching the back of his head sheepishly.

Hana-san turned to face Sakura with a bright smile. It was one of the biggest smiles she had seen her mother wear in a long while.

"I've known Naruto a lot longer than you have, sweetie, I actually used to bring him groceries occassionally," she explained to her perplexed daughter, "I felt sorry for him... everyone was always treating poor Naruto with such cruelty!"

"After I became a ninja, I told her to stop bringing me things, because with the pay of a ninja I could earn what I needed," furthered Naruto, "I never realized I was with her daughter this entire time!"

"So... you... felt sorry for Naruto and brought him food and drink and helped him to get along..." said Sakura softly, trying to absorb all of this information, "he told you to stop after he became a ninja... you did... and then I got on a team with you... and you didn't realize I was related to my mother... and then I told you I was on a team with Naruto... and not only did you forget to tell me that you knew him, but you also blew up about the fact that I was on Naruto's team?"

"Not quite, Sakura," replied the girl's mother, "close, but not quite. You're right up until the point where I discovered you were on the same team as Naruto, but I didn't forget to tell you... I must have told you five times while you were gushing about that Uchiha brat."

Sakura flushed in anger and embarassment, and at the mention of Sasuke's name, she felt her heart being chipped. It was an awkward sensation, to say the least. Emotions just flooding her from that simple sentance. Naruto seemed to be taking it similarly, minus the angered part.

"Heh... sorry... but that still doesn't explain why you got upset about me being on Naruto's team." she pointed out, regaining her composure... she could take a little talk about Sasuke.

"Oh no, I wasn't mad about Naruto being there... it was... someone else I was a little upset with at the moment," she said with a smile, putting a hand on her shoulder, "I couldn't have been happier that you were on the same team as Naruto."

Sakura was about to respond, but Naruto's stomach had chosen that exact moment to growl and squirm. The blonde nin grinned sheepishly, scratching the back of his head again.

"Eh heh heh... seems like my stomach is remembering the food you used to bring me, Hana-san..." he muttered softly.

Hana laughed lightly and smiled to the blonde boy, placing her hands on her hips, "Some things never change... let me make you two something to eat. Sakura, you go and take out the extra futon for Naruto and clean up a bit, okay?"

"Okay mom..." answered Sakura out of reflex, still a little confused and quite thoroughly shocked.

_"...she was upset with me being on the same team as someone else...?" _the girl thought as she raced up the stairs, _"but the only other two on my team were... Sasuke... and Kakashi... why would she have a problem with either of them...?"_

* * *

Naruto lay on his futon, only a tee-shirt and a pair of pajama bottoms on, fully satisfied with his meal. Ramen was all the he could afford by himself... and it held significance as the first present or reward he had ever gotten... but there were plenty of other foods that were much nicer. His travels had only opened his eyes further, and he was now more in love with food that ramen specifically.

He let out a sigh of content as he stared up at the cieling. Never in a million years would he have thought he'd end up here. He was laying on the floor, staring at the cieling of Sakura's room. It smelled nice... every single corner of the room smelled like Sakura's sweet and comforting scent. It was already three in the morning, and he couldn't sleep. The shinobi had been having a lot of trouble sleeping over the past couple of days. For some reason, something about being in Konoha kept him wide awake through the nights. Maybe it was the instinctive fear of people coming to beat him... maybe it was the memories of his friend's betrayal... he didn't know for sure, just that he couldn't sleep.

"Naruto-kun..." Sakura's soft voice drifted through the room, "are you still awake...?"

"Yeah..." he answered softly, "what's up?"

"I can't sleep..."

"Me neither..."

Silence washed over the girl's room as they both searched for something to say. It was a strange feeling. They had both been away for so long... imagined talking about so much... imagined hugs, tears, a joyful reunion. When it came down to it though, neither of them really knew what to say or how to really act... they had imagined it so well, yet when it finally happened, neither of them knew what to do.

Finally, the pink-haired girl's voice graced the air once more, breaking the silence.

"Hey, why don't you tell me some of the stories about your travels, the types of training you did, the people you met, the techniques you picked up..." she trailed off, just imagining it all.

"Alright," replied the blonde boy, sitting up and looking in the direction of the girl to find that she was resting her back against the headboard of her bed, her kneed drawn up to her chest.

The boy turned away from her and leaned back against the edge of her bed, looking out the window and into the vibrant full moon that was out tonight.

"The training was Hell... day in and day out I went through what seemed like torture. I would fight until my body was incapable of moving, think and solve problems until I couldn't even speak, cry so much that there were no more tears--"

"Cry? Why would you be crying every day?" asked the kunoichi, worry sounding on the edge of her voice.

The blonde merely gave a 'heh' and looked down to the futon he was sitting on.

"Shinobi go through vast mental and emotional turmoil over the years of their lives... Ero-sennin knew about this, and so he tortured my emotions every day to the point where I couldn't cry anymore..."

"That's horrible!" came the hushed, though thoroughly shocked voice of the girl, "I mean... you've been through enough already..."

"Heh, I don't know, that's actually the training that I was most thankful for." he replied, looking up at her with a smile.

He wondered if she could see him clearly in the dark. The moon wasn't particularly bright and was mostly blocked out by the thick clouds that hung in the sky. To him, he could see her every detail quite clearly, one of the many useful traits he had picked up fromm his demon 'friend.'

"Oh? Why's that?"

"With that training... I learned how to momentarily push aside emotions. This way I was able to train harder, because my entire mind would be focused on it," the shinobi said matter-of-factly and, seeing the girl tense slightly, he quickly added, "I mean, I never learned how to block them out completely... because I never wanted that. I guess I just kind of learned to channel those feelings better. I can use my feelings to fight but I can block them out when it comes to certain things... I guess you could say I learned how to feel things where it's good to feel them..."

Sakura visibly relaxed at this statement. For a moment, the girl was utterly afraid that Naruto's training trip had turned him into another Sasuke. The girl was afraid that he would devote his entire life to training and becoming strong, just like _he_ did... and eventually become an avenger as well. Naruto was all she had left... and... in truth... all she had ever had. She didn't want him to walk that dark path, so the fact that he just learned to channel his emotions comforted her.

"Anyway," he continued, breaking her from her thoughts, "I trained every day until I was exhausted and couldn't move. I would always have long, wonderfully dreamless sleeps after I passed out from exhaustion. My clothes, all of them, were completely trashed by the first week of training and we had to stop at a town at least once a week so that I would have something to wear."

The kunoichi's eyes widened at this statement. Even her training with Tsunade hadn't gotten that bad. She may have gotten dirty, bruised, and sometimes even walked out of it bleeding, but she was never beaten to the severity of needing a new training outfit. Then again... it _was_ Naruto, and he did have a tendency to take things to the extreme.

"I learned a lot of really cool techniques," he said with a bright smile, "I was suprised when I woke up one day and couldn't remember the number of techniques I had learned. Everything from basic ninjutsu of all the ninja villages to some personal techniques of Ero-sennin himself. I even made a bunch of new moves myself and learned enough taijutsu to make Lee jealous..."

"Wow..." was all Sakura could say in response.

Naruto was growing stronger at an alarming rate... he had caught some whispers during the party that Naruto could stand toe-to-toe against Jiraiya himself and even come out victorious. Despite her honest joy for her companion's achievments, something was nagging at the back of her mind... something that she had thought about many times while she lay awake in her bed, waiting for his return...

"Naruto-kun... did you meet any interesting people on your travels?" she asked out of the blue.

"Yes! I met a lot of really great people! There was this writer we met named Haru who travelled with us for a while, and he actually got me into reading! He wanted to travel with us for a while because he saw one of our sparring sessions, and he would interview me every night... he said he wanted to make a book about my adventures!"

"A... book about you...?" asked Sakura in hushed disbeliief, "and he got you into reading! How good of a writer is this guy?

"He's pretty good... makes a few mistakes here there but he gets the message across well... maybe you can meet him later." offered Naruto with a grin.

"Meet him? What are the odds of ever running into this travelling writer of yours ever again?" she asked skeptically.

"Pretty good actually... he said he would come and visit so that he could gather a bit more information on my life in Konoha... and also said that he knew someone here that he hadn't seen in a long time, and had some business to sort out anyway."

"Naruto-kun... don't you think that's kind of creepy? It's kind of like having a stalker..." the girl muttered, a bit concerned for her friend.

"Nah... Kaori was more of a stalker than he was... gave me the creeps..." he said with a small shiver.

"Kaori...?" she asked, a little crest-fallen at the thought of her Naruto-kun having an adoring fangirl, "who's she?"

"She...? Kaori is a guy... though sometimes I wonder about that... he looks so much like a girl, it's a little creepy sometimes." he said with some distaste, before he grinned and his eyes lit with a quick realization.

"You were jealous weren't you?" he teased, grinning a full grin at her.

"I-No-I- I was not jealous!" she said, not bothering to hide her blush, as she assumed Naruto would not be able to see it in this darkness.

"Then how come you're blushing?" he said, suprising her a little.

_"Oh who am I kidding..."_ she thought, sighing inwardly, _"These past two and a half years have been hell without you here Naruto-kun... I wanted you here so badly... you're all I have... yeah I'm jealous... heh... how could I not be?"_

The words never did come out, and Naruto gave a little laugh.

"Hehe, I'm just kidding Sakura-chan, I know we're just best friends, right?" he asked with a bright smile.

It was one of the things he had come to terms with in order to train. He was content with having her as a best friend. The blonde nin still loved her with all of his being, but realized and came to terms with the truth... that he would never be with Sakura in a romantic way. As long as he could have her as a best friend, he was okay with that.

Sakura, on the other hand... was in inner turmoil. Best friends...? She didn't know why, but the term hurt her. It hurt her because she realized... she was starting to grow feelings for Naruto... she was becoming more and more attatched to Konoha's number one suprise ninja, and his long trip away had only made this attatchment stronger to her. The kunoichi... now matured and able to think things through more carefully... realized with a single bout of jealousy... that she wanted to be more than a best friend to Naruto.

"Sakura-chan...? You okay...?"

She wanted to be there for him and make him happy. She had promised it, too... a long time ago... promised to reunite him with the one who hurt him... she made a promise to herself to make him happy... that she wanted to make him happy even more than Sasuke. Sasuke... the name, even thought, made old wounds emerge and ache... why couldn't she let go of Sasuke...? The dark boy had done nothing but hurt her, make her cry, and left her for dead... he had done nothing but pursue his own goals without giving a damn about anyone but himself and his own desire for power and revenge. She couldn't let go of the feelings she had once had for Sasuke, and it infuriated her.

"Hey... Sakura-chan... are you even awake...?"

She hated that she could still harbor feelings for him, she hated that it was getting in the way of her being able to finally make Naruto happy and unite him with the one that hurt him, she hated him for making her cry and torturing her, for mutilating Naruto and making all of their lives miserable. She hated Sasuke at the very core of her being... but at the same time... he was part of team 7... he was a part of their little 'family' that she had grown to love. She loved Sasuke... or at least what Sasuke used to be... as a dear friend. She hated him and what he had done but Sasuke was still her friend... still part of her team... still a part of her Konoha 'family.' Until the deal with Sasuke was resolved... or until she could learn to forget him... Naruto would have to wait...

_"I'm sorry Naruto..."_

"Sakura-chan...? Saaakkkuuurraaa-chaaaannn?" came the voice of the blonde shinobi loudly.

Sakura's eyes fluttered open to meet deep blue. She was still on her bed, Naruto sitting at the foot of it, back in his normal gear, and the sun shone brightly through the open window, forcing her to close her eyes once more, not expecting the bright sunlight.

"Hehe... come on, get up already, it's noon." said Naruto with a grin, "Eesh and I thought I was a heavy sleeper..."

"Naruto-kun...? " she said as she opened one emeraldine orb slowly, letting the delicate pupil adjust to the light, "Noon...?"

She darted up all of a sudden, almost knocking the blonde boy over. She immediately began bowing frantically to the shinobi.

"Oh no! I'm so sorry! I fell asleep while talking to you didn't I? Oh god I'm so sorry" she kept spewing out frantically, until Naruto placed his hands on her shoulders.

"Calm down, it's fine... really..." he said with a smile, "I was getting pretty sleepy myself actually..."

"Well I'm still sorry for just passing out like that... I mean I didn't even say anything or--"

"Sakura-chan... you were tired... exhausted from a mission... and it was almost four in the morning. It didn't take much longer for me to pass out either." he said with a soft smile

The girl looked down, still ashamed that she had fallen asleep in the middle of her conversation with Naruto. She remembered her thoughts concerning him... if she was really going to make him happy... she could at least start by staying up through their talks.

"I'll go get us some breakfast, you go ahead and finish waking yourself up." He offered, reaching to grab his cloak from the hook on the door.

Without any warning, a puff of white smoke appeared right outside Sakura's window. As the smoke cleared... it revealed a certain silver-haired, masked jounin who's single showing eye was crinkled up, the only indication that he was smiling.

"Yo."

* * *

A/N: Wow... the quality of this chapter isn't very good is it? Sorry for making you all wait for this ;; Summer's rolling around pretty soon, and I'll be able to write every day once vacation starts! At any rate... to answer a few questions that might be raised...

Yes, the Haru in the story is an avatar of mine of sorts... and yes, he will make an appearance later in the fanfiction.

Kaori will also make an appearance later in the fanfiction.

There ARE other people that Naruto has met over his travels that may or may not be appearing.

There IS a plot... or at least it will be emerging soon.

That should quell about half the questions in the reviews. Anyway... please review and let me know how bad this chapter sucked, because I know it did !


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